For Holocaust Memorial Day
Preserved
As a necessary
Monument
To brutality
A wind blows
Through
The draughty
Barracks
Shelves
For piled bodies
On the cusp of
Silence
Empty
Except memories
Just walls now
Floor
People lived here
Died
Survived
Human souls
Death
Shadows
Watching
Witnesses
And yet
In the rafters
Life
Endures
A bird’s nest
Empty
Preserved
Life
Photo by Serafima Lazarenko on Unsplash
Note: Many years ago, I visited Auschwitz with Zach while he was living in Poland. The image of this bird’s nest has stayed with me ever since. I can’t remember now if I took a picture – or if this felt inappropriate in this strange place – but I can see it so clearly in my mind’s eye.