Taken; Forsaken; waiting for the world to awaken.

Have they lost sight of our plight, our lost rights?

Our misery, stop saying repeatedly, I’m glad it isn’t me.

We are of little consequence, the Nazi regime's abhorrence,

Brutally enforced, all compassion divorced,

Loaded as cattle, like unwanted chattel,

Father, Uncle, Brother, Aunt, I and Mother.

Herded, no calming words, worded,

Packed like books in library nooks.

No loose page could assuage. We dare not gauge.

Others’ reaction. As for our direction, 

East, South, North, unsure of any course.

Do all roads lead to hell? I’ve no breath left to yell. 

Will family and those befriended remember when our life ended?

Or are we lost in the illusory smoke of history's genocidal misery?

 

I'm not afraid to die, but if I cry to live, will I regret the try?

Though death is inevitable, no one chases the unavoidable.

Kicking back against strife, in the vain hope of life.

Though captive, my powerful imagination is active.

And into this unbearable world I’ve built without guilt,

A sanctuary, a warm space, a safe place. 

Securely curled, no malice unfurled, or hurled

At those less fortunate, or those dispassionate.

I can find peace, or at least

Some comfort. Not overwrought with the thought.

That your absence, so hard, cuts deep like a razored shard.

 

It’s my time, I can read the signs.

Jackboots blocking, shouts shocking, rifles cocking.

Shower doors open wide, with little or no room left inside.

One door, one concrete floor, 

Windowless, packed together, we coalesce.

This room, an impasse, our bodies chemically cleansed, en masse.

 

One day, Nazi deceivers will be the receivers

Of humanity's justice, no longer riding high, but the antithesis

Until then. Until then, in my mind, we will all live again.

 

Love has no sell-by date; why can we not deflate hate

And love one another, announce them as our sister and brother.