Best Poems Written by Mary Akins

Sobibor

We ride the cattle rail  Not knowing exactly what lay ahead. For weeks there's 
been no heat,  No bathrooms and we've barely been fed.  We arrive at our 
destined location.  Sobibor...Sobibor...Sobibor,  Is the death camp for Jews.  
Opening widely, the gate to Hell  With train whistle loud and prolonged, News of 
our arrival they tell.  Orders given, the boxcar doors open.  The air so fresh, the 
pines are livid.  Decisions to make.....What to do?  What to do?  Tailors, 
seamstress', blacksmith, carpenters  Are there any?  
Volunteers?...Yes...No ...Good decision, bad decision?  Shouted at, screaming, 
people being beat  Kept others orderly on their march.  Houses with names, 
gardens with flowers, and Signs pointing to canteen and showers.  Sobibor 
seemed peaceful, not a place of murder.  To the Ukraine to work you will go.  
Because of lice, Women need their hair to go.  There are epidemics, You must 
be disinfected.  Naked and unaware of the lies, They each take the walk Through 
the tube-"Road to Heaven".  The screaming strong at first,  Weakens gradually 
until it dies.  Why?...Why?...Why?...You say.  Why don't you fight back?  Pick up 
that gun, shoot that guard!  That would lead to your death plus as Many others 
they could hack.  Why don't you escape?  Where would I go?  Here I have no 
home, no family. ..It is cold.  I have no warm clothes or shoes...I am on the verge 
of starving.  What will I eat?  How do I get through the mine fields?  How do I get 
through the armed Poles in the forest?  We do revolt... the camp as a whole.  
Sasha, the Soviet prisoner of war... A new leader... good for our soul.  He gave us 
some hope.  We were working class people, Everything was taken from us.  We 
were cold.  We were hungry.  We were beaten.  We were killed.  We lost all hope.  
Oppression lets genocide happen.  Genocide has happened in the past. 
Genocide is happening now.  Genocide will happen in the future.  Greed and 
power can and does lead to genocide.  Only policy makers worldwide...God 
willing, Can help stop the killing.

Copyright © Mary Akins | Year Posted 2007