History Leaves scars
on the awakened soul
We must link our hands in memory
With the many heavy hearted hands
who without Justice were bled
long ago becoming
the dust of the dead
knuckled and weather worn hands,
dirt encrusted from dawn to dusk
digging deep, working steadily
For family and cultural posterity
Instead of having generational legitimacy
They were force marched in futility
Hands tied they were denied sanity
pitching them headfirst valueless
in a merciless ditch
Where defiance in silence died
Blindfold off, nakedly unified
With hands held together in prayer
Prodded strong armed at the ledge
All balanced on a toehold
Gripping tight fisted
their own grave digging tools
Calloused fingers held tight to the edge
laboriously holding on to their own worth
Shot down with shell-shocked
pleading hands up
covered in adamah ‘aluvah poor soil for the soul
The tender hearted hands
of a mothers soft touch
That soothes much
Was a shield for good
And as a fortress of protection stood
Destroyed in a heartbeat
Mortared in defeat
by the inconceivable loss of normality
and everyday joy
The purity of innocence
was put on trial
relentlessly snuffed out recklessly
like a bonfire in the wind
Blown and scattered
within fuming turbulent air
Choking off inhalations meant for song
Turning spirit voices to wailing dark despair
On beseeching knee,
With tremulous palms up high
In last prayer benediction
Wide eyes clutch close parental love
A willing maternal sacrificial dove
To not offer up her lamb
Life slips from her grasp
Short lived spark of virtue left
Nowhere else to go but up in smoke
Small fingers remembered
never to be held again
in love or comfort
Still entwined
echo all we touch
A child’s last trust revealed
Sweetest lips blow kisses soft
Faith so profound rests
in hope upon their face
Singular souls bright
Leave no trace
Of darkness yet concealed
Boundless as air with mercy fair
Light and love in equal measure
was their share
Rising potential not yet winged for flight
Ready to begin
Emerging like seeds waiting
for a warm and gentle wind
Childhood incinerated and erased
Gifts of heart and hope untried
Our true treasure denied
burned in fire for enmity’s desire
Hearts beating sincere
tuned to dreams and common birth
Only knowing shelter, succor and human worth
Led to slaughter with smiles and lies
Like a moth to luminosity flies
Is suddenly extinguished
Flamed for its unwavering trust
And instinctive assurance
that light sustains life
Guiltlessly and without reproach
Naively expecting solid ground and approach
A waking nightmare where reality was negated
Immediate relevance is obliterated
Within the screams and death cries
All are annihilated
Without concern for human kindness or care
Evil doers showered blistering hate
No rescue or retreat in sight
Throwing stone after stone to seal their fate
Silenced in place
Expressed only through toil and tears
The constant calamity of woe
Beaten back collared with the wolf at the door
the duty of their hands
was not now theirs to own
Trial by fire is given to the walking dead
They shovel out blood and bone
Ever weeping deep in ash and dung
All familial relationships are undone
Soul weary and bowed down
Disease.bereavement, and constant hunger
disembowel the once bright spirit
In cramped confinement
residing next door to dread,
fitful sleep is broken
With one eye always open
Hope is a whisper never spoken
Only in our knowing can we share memory
Delivering back their names aloud
We return them from the dead
We stand and awaken those before us
Never to forget the holocaust cost paid
And our shared history
Or to ever again dishonor
our own humanity -MLH