The Retired Bloke

Shoes

Close to the edge

They face the water

Signifying the slaughter

Of Jews in the 1940s

Innocent men, women and children

Their last act

To take off their shoes

To take a bullet

And fall unceremoniously 

Into the Danube

Metal shoes

In all shapes and sizes

Mark the spot

Of this heinous crime

Against humanity

Against all with compassion

In their heart

Lest we forget

The massacre 

Of the innocents

In Budapest.