Topic Tags: antisemitism

“1935, the girls are packing / for America. / Their parents will not wait for things to get worse.”

In this beautiful poem, the author explores her loss of innocence and search for understanding.

“Try not to think / of the children who are not getting their baths, / who are not getting their parents.”

“We are with each other. We are not alone. / We will do what we have always done.”

“Seeking an impossible calm, we bed / down our gardens for the winter, / wishing we too could sleep soundly.”

“I take it off when I get to the parking lot / and hide my Star of David, / cover my Hebrew tattoo…”

“I invited those who won’t speak up for me now…”

“I’m teaching to prepare you. / But for what exactly? / To hide, to fight, to run away or die?”

“Every song / a protest, ready to transform.”

“What things do you have planned? Do you march with torches? Do you scream out for our death?”