Auschwitz

One of my childhood memories haunted me so long,

So long, so long,

I dreamt and dreamt,

Why?

I did not know.

Walking skeletons, piles of rags -

But walking rags alive?

Mounds of death - such horrible scenes,

Piled up into the sky.

So long, so long,

I wondered why,

And wished it had remained unseen.

It took so long, so very long, 

Before those earthly screams, registered the truth beyond belief,

 What happened to those poor souls.

Human spite and human hate could fester through and through, 

'So kill and kill, just kill the Jews - 

Till no-one's left alive.'

Auschwitz, 

- Still rings a bitter note, 

Of suffering in extreme.

But will they remember what man can do to humans when one hates?

Monsters did not perform those acts,

That causes us such dread,

But normal people just like you performed those deadly deeds.

Over a million died there then,

And memories often fade.

But we must not forget, 

Must never forget, 

What man can do to man!

(1990)