5438079

5438079

This was the number burnt into her arm

as her grandmother was telling her

that every thing would be all right.

Don`t cry she would say every thing

will be okay tomorrow will be a better day

as they were herded toward the train

Poor Mr. Kurtz was shot for not boarding

just do as they say my grandmother would say

tomorrow every thing will be ok

But I could see the fear in her eye`s

often I would see her cry,we were

separated from my parents at the last camp

Grandmother says we will be together soon they won`t tell us where we are going but it`s cold on this train

we have no food to eat but grandmother

has some bread hid in her coat it`s food she would say

When we arrived at the camp it was a nightmare

some people had no clothes and they looked as if

they were being starved to death and they

huddled around each other to keep from freezing

A smile came over grandmothers face when she

saw my father and brother but my momma

wasn`t there my grandmother and father cried

they would beat us and kill the old people

don`t worry about me she would say

They killed my father and brother they took me away

my grandmother was put in the gas chamber

I heard the people say

But one morning soldiers came in with food

and blankets just like my grandmother would say

but she never got to see this day...

Author's Note

Reviews

[John Reese]

Broseph! I am a student of both world wars. I was two months from being born in England.
I lived with my British grandfather for3 years. He had 79 pieces of steel in his right side.
He was my best friend in the world. God took him from me when I was 13 years old. One minute he was there the next minute he was gone. My Heart was broken. My Mother went through the constant bombing as she lived in Kent, on the English Channel. I could never understand my Mother until I understood that war never goes away for the survivors.

[wordman]

yes they have terrible memories of that time,and i can relate to you and your grand father
my grand pa`s brother and i was very close,he died about the age of 73 and i was about 12 or 13
he taught me a lot of things

[Sethnicity]

Wow!
I love it because it hurts and it hurts because it's real.
The broken telling beats into me because a broken child is doing the talking.
I love that there is no real meter just statements. I would have loved to have a metaphor or color added but then again... It hurts because it's real and direct and dry.
You can feel the harsh brazen atmosphere in the lines.

Only one very small critique is the opening line comes from a third person POV and then switches to first/second person... but maybe that is good too, it demonstrates a change as if the narrator was inside and yet outside of the actual character living through these events. Also I think "every thing" in the context used here should be one word.

[wordman]

i appreciate your review and i will take a look,thanks

[Arrinae]

Well written my friend. This piece is deep and thought provoking. Through the eyes of a young girl we see the pain, fear and horror first hand. Thank you for writing.

[wordman]

i appreciate your visit

[J.A. Marquez]

You have a striking piece here. I happen to have a certain love for anything involving the Holocaust be it books, movies, articles, lectures. It's a reminder that while things may not be how I want them, they are not nearly as bad as they could be. There is great power and great sickness in our world and when it rears it's ugly head it can devastate so many. The fact that this is in the POV of a child is incredibly powerful. The very thought of a child withstanding the pain of having their family torn from them, losing the people they love to senseless hate, is heartbreaking. Yet it still happens every day. When will we humans learn.

[wordman]

thank you for the visit,it is still going on today,and we will never learn, as man runs the world

[RomaJ]

This is a very powerful and emotional poem, Wordman. Truly heartfelt.

[wordman]

thank you ,the review roma

[RomaJ]

You're very welcome:)

[Robert Vicens]

Pretty disturbing subject matter, I must say. I enjoyed the work and was haunted by it. The subject matter will definitely do that to you.

Can you clarify please, what the motivation was behind the lack of punctuation? I recognize it is a kind of poem/story. Also, there were a few sentences and ideas that felt incomplete. Again, just curious as to the motivation.

It felt as if it were told in the scatterbrain of a child. But I'm not sure if that's where you were going.

[wordman]

well tk what can i say,i never use punc,in a poem

[Ben Noah Suri]

Lovely touching write... It is a shame; what man is capable of doing unto fellow man!

[wordman]

well my friend,it will get worse

[Ben Noah Suri]

I agree with you my friend

[Perkele.7885]

What people have done to other people, God's Children is unconscionable to a person of any Godly faith. T ignore that it happened is condoning it tacitly. The young people of today have to know, keep telling them.

[wordman]

thank you,but this stuff is still going on today my friend