Long Staining Poems

World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - VI - Chaim Nachman Bialik, Erich Fried

After My Death
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
translation by Michael R. Burch

Say this when you eulogize me: 
Here was a man—now, poof, he's...

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"Backhand"



You have turned me
inside out, cut open
like a tennis ball
I used to beat backhand
along with the racket
hard against the garage wall

To make sense of it all
as a child, the grief stolen
all too swiftly and replaced...

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The daily star Tuesday issue...

announces Summer Solstice 2023
regarding ray zing planetary earthlings

Wednesday, June twenty first
at 10:57 Ante Meridian
Eastern standard time
will find Earth's North Pole tilted
closest toward sun. This demarcates

most daylight hours of the year for
people...

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It was dark out. The stars shone dimly, and the horizon blushed faintly as the birds sang, too cheery for the hour. A chill swept the edges of all the outside world: not cold enough...

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The daily star announces Summer Solstice 2022

Tuesday, June twenty first
at 5:13 Ante Meridian
Eastern standard time
will find Earth's North Pole tilted
closest toward sun. This demarcates

most daylight hours of the year for
people living the northern hemisphere.
Just shy...

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Everything seems better when I am in my own world 
Everything is better when there is no one there
Once when I had someone 
When I felt friendlier 
When all I wanted to do was be...

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My mind is a war wasteland equipped with exploding landmines
decisions limited; sharpened claws are sinking into me
scarring my flesh upon impact into my lungs
breathe...I can't...breathe
I admit I'm not sure, I admit I'm confused
I admit I...

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Skin of Terror
- Daniel Henry Rodgers

(Lights slowly rise on a lone figure, MICHAEL, hunched over a steering wheel. His knuckles are white against the worn leather. Pre-recorded sounds of a desolate highway hum faintly in...

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* CONTENT WARNING: This poem is about physical abuse. *

     ~

eyes, down ...

at my yellow polo,
red spatters
so evenly placed that
they look unnatural -
as if printed,
but unfinished ... incomplete …
yeah ...
blood, but...

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   heroes?

there are none here, now ... ever ...
      don’t feign to look, for your eyes will
         beg their smiles,...

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The mistake I had never expected,
I did it without getting into awareness
Of how it would react.
Lacking that girl in me is like lacking
Of soul in my lonely body
Honestly speaking, she is my helm,
Stark, she is...

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Oft Bold The Thoughts, When Pen Strikes Paper

Oft bold the thoughts, when pen strikes paper
even should ones shovel meet dark coals.
Shrouds removed, to smell new rising vapors
or challenge poets tired and resting souls!

Sought, shimmering pools...

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The Cottonmouth King

I, The Cottonmouth King creep 
out from under my rock; 
I penetrate the depth of your soul 
Blood runs on damp streets 
claiming another life
Drama tastes of bitter swallows, 
escaping from guillotine’s wrath,...

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Broken World



When the lies were injected 
into the veins of innocence
blue feathered quills 
dipped their nibs 
into the ink of golden stories
stalked by trolls 
dragging their fountain tips of liquorice

like shining razor blades
blunt remarks stinging...

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We will truly only see this life when looking at it from the next.

You will only truly feel this poem
when you see through the poorly
written text.

There are things unseen, between
the lines of shadows and light.
Creeping...

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I carry the immense weight of potential with me.

I carry the knowledge that death exists, and that we are all born to die.

I carry the memory of every nightmare and doubt and sleepless night and...

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Fragmented fairytales, Fermented freedom
There's no remorse for the dead, this I know
For, I've been dead for far too long
While there's not one ounce of sympathy to show
Red Redemption, Rhapsody Right 
I'm bromidic, lost, shallow, cold...

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"RED"


Listen he said, “How many ways can you see Red?”

“Well”, she sighed, “Let’s start with Cherry Pie, 
oozing it’s juices all over your chin
and plump moist Red Raspberries staining your sheets, then again
what about Claret...

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Holocaust Poem: "On The Slaughter of the Jews"
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Merciful heavens, have pity on me!
If there is a God approachable by men
as yet I have not found him—
Pray for...

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Why the dogwood tree grows.

In the middle of a vacant filed stands a grand dogwood tree where the  crows gather daily. People flock far and wide just to gaze at its majestic stature and...

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I try to fight them, those cruel clawing cold hands
 that drag me from the pit, clawing, twisting, crushing me.
 I must find you! I need to hold you, to be held by you!
 So...

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It stands alone four square, white-washed straw-thatched, 
small window panes, black frames, and out back chickens hatched, 
pecking weedy ground around a single willow.
Set just a little back from single country lane, 
high-hedged between the...

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This is the house built “right”.

This is the greed bred in the seed 
of the foundation of the house built “right”.

This is the arrogant and pervasively resonant 
that's born of the greed  bred in...

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All of a sudden I miss a step
And then you excuse me the lack of continuity 
He dragged me here, taking me by my hair and then asked me to leave some space in me...

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Where would I live if I were richest, and had all the money in the world?
Outside the square box, where no doors exist, and locks will never block
My entrance or exit, without four walls or...

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