יד ביד yad beyad-Hand in Hand

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