Where To She Be (Mature)

[Casmatori]

Where is my mommy, for I do not know
Where to she be, where did she go
She held my hand just a second before
Right before she left and ran out the door

I heard shooting from way outside
Scared so much I was forced to hide
Sniffing my sleeve, I could smell her scent
Then the men burst in, they came I went

Dragging us through the streets by our hair
Men and women dead, children in despair
Piles of bodies, clothes and shoes
Bullets, babies and the bloods that ooze

On the train I was packed, with a thousand others
Mothers and aunts, little sisters and brothers
Through Poland we traveled, houses and spires
Then when we arrived we saw chimneys and fires

Alone and saddened, we walked with pride
Thanking God that we were alive
Marching us on down the fiery steps
The basement from where we never left

[Farkas]

Hi

There are many photographs and eye whiteness accounts of the “final solution” yet there are many who would deny the horrible truth. Some of the great writers of that tortured generation has left heart-wrenching testimonials both in fiction and nonfiction form. Leon Uris, Herman Wouk comes to mind. This poem personifies the horror through a child’s innocent eyes.

Farkas

[bandgeekfreak]

wow, the imagery is divine, very sad and tragic piece. Love the whole piece, it really makes you think.

[potentialpoet]

The Holocaust has become the archetype for man's inhumanity to man, but that capacity of ours is perpetrated in myriad ways everyday. It's worse when those who are murdering others, do so with some rationalization of their actions. I feel like I took part in the Viet Nam Holocaust. Last I heard, 3 million Vietnamese died in the war. I don't know. Blame it on the "killer apes."

[Casmatori]

The Holocaust has become the archetype for man's inhumanity to man, but that capacity of ours is perpetrated in myriad ways everyday. It's worse when those who are murdering others, do so with some rationalization of their actions. I feel like I took part in the Viet Nam Holocaust. Last I heard, 3 million Vietnamese died in the war. I don't know. Blame it on the "killer apes."

I agree. Humans are still capable of barbarism even today. All it takes is the right circumstances and states of mind. When you read the Third Reich's plans of action for the "Final Solution", they talk about it like it's just any other political ordinance, like the disposal of excess crops or livestock etc. But I think Vietnam is a little different: the Nazis actually set out to round up and exterminate the Jews and Roma just like it was on their "to do" list. And remember, most of the Polish, Czech, Hungarians etc. also helped and encouraged the murdering; so there was very little escape or chances for those killed.
It seems the Vietnamese deaths were a tragic consequence of relatively modern, radical warfare mixed with a primitive, isolated environment - but I might be wrong. I think it would be like poisoning a pond to get rid of the killer crocodiles, but then seeing all the fish die too. A very sad event. Thank you for your thoughts.

[LorettaYoung]

Wonderfully penned from a child's perspective, well done, imagery is so well placed. Need we wonder any longer about the barbarism that plagues humans. Congratulations. Loretta

[potentialpoet]

I agree that there is a difference between rounding people up for extermination and waging war in the middle of a civilian population. The point is the mindset of whoever is doing it, whether for political reasons, to purify the race, or to stop communism in southeast Asia, is similar in its assumption that one life is worth more than another, that I am superior, and, worst of all, I feel no connection to you as another human being. Basically, a person like that has no empathy, no capacity for empathy, and is termed a sociopath.

I guess my experience is that we can be prone to that kind of behavior. Even "good" people have the capacity for evil.

[Josie]

Empathy has to be taught at an early age, Poems and stories that help to develop our empathy for others need to be read and shared. Man is capable of being quite cruel and we all need to be courageous and vigilant to protect our societies from committing and condoning atrocities. Thank you for sharing your poem.

[jsol]

I'd like to chime in and pretty much echo Josie's words. We, as a human race, must teach and learn empathy everyday, in everything we do. I meditate on the holocaust quite often because I must learn to understand and deal with my grief about the horror of it and also understand the other side of the issue as atrocious as it is. It is a part of our human collective being-ness and coming to terms with it is essential to understanding the deepest parts of our humanity and moving on and evolving in love as a race.