A synopsis of my time in Israel and Hanover, Germany


Baby Steps

I went to Israel to count the names
tracing them with fingers
brushed with salt and sand.

In Germany I saw words
that swam before my eyes
as walking through the excrement
of broken glass and unknown whores

I realised I knew nothing of my history,
just names and dates and places.
These lives are lost to me
so I visit monuments
with broken glass and excrement.




Poetry by Elle The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 593 times
Written on 2013-06-29 at 21:36

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StillHoppin The PoetBay support member heart!
These "baby steps" are a painful yet beautiful way to get in touch with your past. Well done!
2013-07-02



The only way those names can enrich your life now, is to make the connection, seek them out. Then they become real.
2013-07-01


countryfog
My whole history is within a few familiar miles of here . . . I can't imagine what it would be like to have to do as you did, as Larry's insightful comment noted, as many in Europe must try to do, something I've never really thought about. This is one of those rare poems that is so much more than just what the words say.
2013-06-30


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Interesting. After the wars and the Holocaust, I imagine that a lot of people in Europe feel the same way, having a vague awareness of a past which can't be found. Here in the U.S., especially on the West Coast, where I grew up, people rush to abandon pasts. All of society agrees that it would best if they were erased, and, for the most part, they are.
2013-06-30


Chaucer Whethers
This is quite thoughtful, there is a narrative thread weaving through the words that tugs at the soul.
2013-06-30