I Looked Out at Life with Holocaust Eyes



I Looked Out at Life with Holocaust Eyes

I looked out at life with Holocaust eyes

And what better did I know that I had been

looking through the lens of guilt and affliction,

Seeing life amiss and askew through my Holocaust guilt,

This fatal flaw was burning in my eyes

and how it lay siege to my Jewish heart,

A Greek tragedy in the making all of these years,

The guilt rose from deeply sealed vaults

inside my Jewish eyes and heart,

I could not help but see life through my Holocaust eyes,

Until these Holocaust pangs smoldered and burned

its acrid smoke in my eye sockets,

I peeled away its painful gauze and ace bandages,

My eyes had once lamented over the Holocaust afflictions,

But now I could see with clarion eyes and feel anew

with my Jewish heart by virtue of Holocaust healing balm,

As it clarified the lens, fluid and muscles of my eyes,

And now this healing balm paved a shimmering path within me,

For my Jewish heart to emerge and then shine its splendor

outwards on straight and forward path of life.

Alan Freshman

The Victim

Some one mentioned the 'Holocaust' the old Jewish man said 'no'

Such word i do not wish to hear that happened years ago

Then he slowly folded up his sleeve and numbers etched in blue

Told of the sufferings he'd known and all he had been through.

A silence fell o'er one and all across the club room floor

And in his presence 'Holocaust' not mentioned any more

We had amongst us in the flesh one who had lived through hell

But i wish that he could have spoke of sufferings he could tell.

Don't mention 'Holocaust' to me with one wave of his hand

A silence fell o'er one and all how could we understand?

The agony he had been through, the torture and the pain

We did not mention 'Holocaust' no not to him again.

My heart went to that Jewish man who sought no sympathy

He wanted to block out his past as a bad memory

Don't mention 'Holocaust' to me and little else he said

But i could picture living soul whose thoughts were with the dead.

That night i did not sleep too well i had recurring dream

I watched the hungry slowly die, i heard the tortured scream

I saw a gray haired jewish man the sorrow on his face

And i was in another time a dark and a sadder place.

I woke and when i went to sleep the dream returned to me

Of Jewish man with tragic past who sought no sympathy

I see a young man in his prime with a hunger wasted frame

With numbers branded on his hand 'they'd robbed him of his name'.

Some one mentioned the 'Holocaust' the old jewish man said 'no'

Such word i do not wish to hear that happened years ago

Then he slowly folded up his sleeve and numbers etched in blue

Told of the sufferings he'd known and all he had been through.

Francis Duggan

First They Came For The Jews

First they came for the Jews

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left

to speak out for me.

Martin Niemöller

Poetry Response

1. Copy the title of the poem you chose.

2. In 3-5 sentences, what is this poem about?

3. What is your personal reaction to the poem?

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