I REMEMBER

By Zalman Liss

I remember myself from the age of five,

From the day World War Two began,

When I saw deaths and fires first time in my life,

Bombs exploding again and again.

I remember the panic, the fear, the news,

I remember us walking in dust

As we tried to escape bitter plight of the Jews

From the enemy coming so fast.

I remember a child crawling next to his mom

That was lying all bloody and dead,

And the grown-ups, some crying, some running, and some

Stealing things left by those who fled.

Fate decided who lived, fate decided who died,

With no help, and no cloth, and no food,

Among many that perished we somehow survived,

Clanged to life that was brutal and rude.

I remember the famine, nineteen forty-three,

Starving children with eyes like glass,

Kids that used to be playful and worry-free

Now surviving by eating grass.

On the first day of school, I remember it now,

It’s an image the years did not stifle,

We got lessons not writing, not reading but how

We would handle and fire a rifle.

This is history now, ancient story to tell

Of lost time, of lost lives, of regret.

I remember my childhood, remember it well,

Bloody tale that I cannot forget!

From the book of poetry ‘FIGMENTS AND FRAGMENTS” by Zalman Liss

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