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Freedom - The Night the Ghetto Burned
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Freedom - The Night the Ghetto Burned |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Sarah stood beside the train as the Jewish ghetto burned Her entire family had perished there that was all that she had learned. An acrid smoke filled her lungs water streamed from her saddened eyes She wondered then, why they had believed those, terrible German lies. They told her a new life awaited them "just get on the train" they said. And so she stood in tattered clothes now her whole family was dead. She took her place in the train standing next to a weeping man with nothing to eat or drink all day no need to use their ‘can’. The air around them grew hot and moist a child began to cry a woman softly murmured "we’re all about to die!" "Nonsense" said one, an elder, "they told us we go to work" But Sarah knew the truth that, the world had gone berserk. She told herself she would escape as soon as she saw a chance. For after all, she was so young, had not even tasted romance. Her life would not end here she silently gave a vow she would not let them take her life she would live, somehow. The train stopped and the door opened and sunlight streamed onto her face She smelled smoke, a fire of hate, and knew the devil lived in this place. She walked forward like the others but held her head up high It was her arrogance the selectors said that determined that she must die. She walked along a dusty path with others both strong and frail She watched for a way to run before she entered the devil’s jail. She stripped down with the others and waited for the water to start. But only smelled an acrid gas that invaded her beating heart. The cries rang out, they started to run but there was nowhere for them to go. They climbed on top of the falling bodies of people they didn’t know. Sarah stood in the corner, alone, not frightened at all now. She would find another way to keep her silent vow. She cupped her hands over her mouth and scuttled behind the door. She breathed into a crack in the wall until the last body fell to the floor. The door opened and a man walked in not seeing the girl standing there she snuck out when they were busy cutting off the dead women’s hair. Into the woods she ran, naked and painfully thin She hoped that she would find someone that would kindly take her in. She wandered in the woods for days eating leaves to stay alive She drank the dew from the morning grass and prayed that she would survive. After a week, she grew so weary and began to think that she would die but that’s when she found the peasant’s hut abandoned, but warm and dry. She dressed in an old blanket, ate squirrels she caught at night she drank from the well at the back of the hut living each day in mortal fright. Time passed, she lost count of the days. Until she heard the sounds of war. So she cautiously crept to the top of a hill when she could stay hidden no more. The war was over, the prisoners freed! Sarah fell to the ground and cried. She wept for all the millions who, had needlessly suffered and died. Today Sarah tells her story not holding back the tears. She tells of the terrible thing that awakens her hidden fears. She says she prays every night that a lesson has been learned That man will never repeat the horror of the night the Jewish ghetto burned. |
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| © Copyright 1999 Poet deVine - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Haskins Member
since 1999-06-26
Posts 85Dallas, TX |
Beautiful work. I love poetry that can capture the raw emotion of an actual event. Excellent work. ------------------ William Haskins http://www.ionstorm.com/public/haskins/inner_sanctum.htm |
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Fred Hobbs Member
since 1999-06-08
Posts 329Tallahassee, Florida, US |
Poet, Very vivid and chilling. And a challenging topic to take up in rhyme. You pulled it off very well. Excellent job... sandman |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
The theme of the next few days is Freedom... let's hear yours! Thank you both for your kind comments...sometimes long epic poetry is hard to read and maintain a meter...  |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Yea, sometimes it is hard to read and hard to maintain the meter in a long epic. You maintained the meter well, but the poem was still hard to read. I guess you can blame that on the tears, though. As we approach the celebration of our Independece Day, I suspect this poem is a good reminder that the freedom our country won a few hundred years ago isn't yet Universal, and hasn't always been shared by our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world. We need reminders like this. Especially like this... |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
poet deVine... You do, indeed, have quite a talent for putting absolutely any of life's issues into verse. Thank you for giving us a new appreciation for our own freedom - your tribute is portrayed through its antithesis quite beautifully. |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Thank you Ron and Nan..praise from the two of you is manna to my poetic ears.... |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Absolutely wonderful, devine one. A difficult undertaking with wonderful results. Well done! |
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Andrew Scott Member Elite
since 1999-06-24
Posts 2558Redlands,CA,USA |
Ms. deVine: You have my admiration for a level of skill and empathy that is beyond my comprehension. My highest praise to you. |
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Sally S. Senior Member
since 1999-06-07
Posts 847Ohio |
Truly exceptional Poet! A very emotional subject to be sure...I don't think people take the time to realize how lucky we really are. Of all the poems I've read of yours thus far, (and they're all wonderful) this one in particular, has to be the one I admire most. Well done Poet.  |
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Lost Dreamer Member Elite
since 1999-06-20
Posts 2464Somewhere near the Rainbow |
This was excellent, I really enjoyed the tears, for they were there because I was drawn into this marvelous piece of poetic work, that must have been as difficult to write as it was to read. Thanks |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Thank you all again. Want to hear something strange? I'm not Jewish! But I think poets 'feel' the pain of others more deeply and can associate with it. I've read it in all your poetry also. Let freedom ring!  |
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invertigo18 Member
since 1999-06-14
Posts 53Prairieville, LA., USA |
Truly an epic in itself. Wonderful describation of different scenes. My imagination took off as I read this. And so did my emotions. There were also other religions to suffer other than jews. But I'm sure that this poem speaks for all of them. Very good work, I wish I wrote this well. ------------------ Luke Cakalic |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Let's hear it one more time For Independence Day  |
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aziza Member Elite
since 2006-07-09
Posts 2995Lumpy Oatmeal makes me Crazy! |
It still brings tears, this poem of yours --and the time of Memorial Day is a good time to bring it back. Alison |
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Mysteria 
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
I am so glad this showed up as I had never read it Sharon, and I wish one of our past members had read this before she died too. You indeed have a unique ability to tell stories in poetry and this unfortunately is so very close to the truth, that it hurt. So glad it got to be read again, for freedom's sake. |
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Alison
since 2008-01-27
Posts 9318Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy! |
I read this poem a few years ago and it still holds me in its grip. I think I can breathe now. A |
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