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Christina Ecker Poem
Death Does Not Discriminate
The plains are now silent, a brief moment in time, and we steal every second we can, Before battle resumes, and we will be forced to kill every enemy soldier that stands. Brother against brother in a war that is fought by an army that is regimented in hate, But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
We were forced to become soldiers in Hitler’s regime even though our Jewish race is inferior, To be pawns in a war, to not think for ourselves, to be subject to all orders from our superiors. Young men that we are, with little hope for a future, we live everyday with an uncertain fate, But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
We crawl in the trenches, our only protection, hoping to avoid hearing the sound of the tanks, And we pray that when night falls and we gather together we still have the same men in our ranks. As we gather together in the hopes of a meal, we all see there’s no food on our plates, But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
The sound of the planes that fly overhead and the gunshots that don’t let us sleep, Is the only music that we will ever hear and that record is stuck on repeat. Just like our brothers on the opposite side who also fear knowing their fate, But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
Today we were lucky, it was a day of ceasefire, there were no bodies to bury or burn So we assisted each other by removing the lice, each person helped by taking a turn. Do the enemies have lice, are they lacking in food, or do they live in a happier state? But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
The letters we get from our loved ones at home are now few and far in between, We think of our lives, how we lived before the war and wonder if it was a dream. It is now close to night and we are hearing the tanks, why start the fighting so late? But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
When we do go to sleep all that we see is the German motto “Might Comes Before Right,” It is burned in our minds and in the depths of our heart and in the blood that impacts our sight. How can this motto be moral or humane when so much death is the only checkmate? But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
But the war is over, and the Germans have lost, and I gaze in wonder at the bright golden sun, I remember the dead and my youth that was stolen and wonder if anything has really been won. Was the war really worth it, so many lives lost, for one man’s vision of the perfect human state? But on the battlefield, during a war, Death does not discriminate.
Copyright © Christina Ecker | Year Posted 2021
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