They made us wear these yellow stars on our coats
they took our treasures then our homes
they came to get us on a humid summer day
my feet burned
my children cried for water
They shoved us into a cattle car
eighty in each
we would relieve ourselves in the corner
we couldn't lay down
we took turns sleeping
why did we think we would be okay?
My second youngest she was 2 tugged on my coat
"Momma, what is happening?" She asked
I didn't know what to tell her
I held all of them close
Marie, she was 6
Grace, she was 4
Lacey, she was 2
None of us even knew.
My husband
sat staring into space
My poor son only 13 didn't look dazed at all
the train pulls to a stop
they hit us with rocks and whips, club, sticks
My Grace pulled my sleeve
She pointed
A pit
A pit of fire
Then the factory
It smelled of death here
There were words only eight of them
"Woman to the left. Men to the right."
I picked Lacey up in one arm
Grace in the other
Marie held on to my coat
We all left
my husband and my son held hands
That was the last time I saw them in the physical world.
The SS made us take our clothes off
And told us to run
Then one by one they asked us questions
Our age
"45" I said
"6" said Marie
My little girls stayed quiet
Not because they didn't want to say
Because they were not asked.
They pointed for The little ones and I to go to the right
Pointed for Marie to go left.
Marie grabbed me.
She wanted to go with us
So she did
Why, right?
We went
we were told we were getting a shower
They shoved thousands of us into a cold room.
All of the sudden gas filled the room
We suffocated
until
we
all
died
I rose from my body and stared around.
Why such cruelty? I wondered
My girls rose from their bodies too
We stared around looking for answers
Answers that will never be answered.
A light appeared and we followed
to Heaven
seven months later my husband appeared
nine months later it was my son
Never forget
Always remember
6 million numbers