Felix

Saying goodbye to a whole life. How I imagine my grandfather left Germany.

 

 

His life in two garbage bags,

Packed neatly away in the back of the car.

He had so little,

Gave so much.

 

“Your Grandfather,”

My mother would say

“Had many secrets,”

 

I can still picture him in my mind’s eye

His smile, wide as the sky,

As I sat on his lap,

And played with the rings

On his fingers at age five.

 

And I can imagine him:

Shivering on the docks,

Smog choking the air.

His mother holds his ten-year-old hand,

With her gloved one.

The six-pointed stars on their chests,

Mirror each other,

The only thing alive

And vibrant that day.

 

He is crying,

Little Felix Oppenheimer,

His mother is not.

 

He looks up at her,

From under,

The brim of his cap,

And asks,

“Do I have to go?”

 

His mother bends down,

And with steady hands,

Rips the star from his chest,

Tossing it to the ground.

 

There is no going back,

He must go alone,

The only one of them

To get out.

 

Thirteen pairs of shoes, then twelve,

Lined up by the door of his house In Berlin.

Only one pair of shoes

Not taken

From dead feet

In the Camps.

 

Five dollars and a kiss

On the dock

Of his homeland,

And the hope,

Of one day,

Another kiss.

A hope unfulfilled

 

As the boat pulls away

And with tears in his eyes,

Little Felix looks back,

And yells,

“Aufwedersen Mutti, Ich Liebe dich,”

And he cries,

But his mother does not.

She cannot cry

For the one who survived

When her other ten children

Will die

Reviews

[Naomi Montana Walsh]

Well done..this poem takes the reader to a moment of poignancy.
There is a reason to bring memories of wrongs done and sufferings of the past and that is so that we may never cause them to repeat..but also to understand where someone like " Felix" your grandfather comes from to honour their memory .. even the part they were before you knew them.

[Vigo Manslaughter]

wow....really good...made me sad

[Allegra Pescatore]

Aufwedersen means goodbye.

[Nate E. Flake (Cösmic ..]

oh yeah is the translation, from what I understand, "Aufwedersen mom, I love you", but what is Aufwedersen?

[Nate E. Flake (Cösmic ..]

I like how you incorporate a real hisoric event,"The Holocaust", into what may be a poem that is realistic fiction. What motivated you to write this?

[Coyote Poetry]

A powerful poem. I have met many people who survived the WW2. I heard their stories. Brought tears to their eyes and my eyes. Your story told a sad story. The pain of a young boy to leave his family was a heavy burden to keep. War had done no good in this world. I will never understand how we are still fighting. After so many thousand years of war. A excellent poem. A very sad ending. I know older people who won't discuss the war. I believe it will bring back bad memories.
Coyote

[Bubo]

I have a huge lump in my throat, of course the subject matter is so emotional, but the ending was one of such sorrow, that this young child would survive, and the mother could only think of her other children about to die........amazingly written, and I so hope your Grandfather reads this.
I would make the font larger as I had to squint!

[Alicia Schroeder]

Very nicely written.. I like it alot..

[Skin]

An honourable work well written.
Note: Smog chocking the air. did you possibly mean 'choking?

[Tate Morgan]

vERY NICE THE TYPE IS A BIT TOO SMALL FOR ME TO READ WITHOUT MY GLASSES BUT WORTH IT AS IT MADE ME THINK OF TIMES i HAD WITH MY GRANDFATHER

[Annie29]

Wow.
This is absolutly wonderful (: