Poems from Poland

Hey guys, in case any of you guys wanted to read any of the poems I wrote throughout the trip (although I shared most of them during class meetings), here they are :)

Day 1: Warsaw
(The memorial walk. we learned about Crovczek who refused to leave his children, even though he could have survived)

my children, let us dance
let us dance and sing
and laugh like there is no tomorrow

like no one is watching
like no one can hear us
like the whole world will laugh along with us

for tomorrow we must learn the new steps
of a dance we've never been taught

and tomorrow we must hum a new tune
one we've never heard

and even tomorrow our laughter must not cease
though we will set out on a journey unknown

so today, my children, let us dance
let us dance and sing
and laugh like there is no tomorrow

Day 2: Tykocin
(driving along the path that those who were driven out traveled on)

kol od baleva penimam
what is going on? where are they taking us?
nefesh yehudi homiah
I am forced into an overcrowded car. I see my neighbour sprinting behind the car that drives down a never-ending road, her two children held tightly in her arms
ufatei mizrach kadimah
I'm scared. I'm sure we've only been driving a few minutes but time seems to move on a different scale.
akin letsion tsofiyah
I hear a loud bang. the kids in my car cower in corners. their parents unsuccessfully try not to look afraid. my neighbour is no longer running behind the car. In fact, she is not moving. Her children do not stir either. Mom tells me to look away.
od lo avida tikvateinu
We are instructed to leave the car. we begin to talk down a winding path through the forest, cold and afraid.
hatikva bat shnot al payim
we are forced to sing. they laugh at us. "you jews have no hope," they mock.
leyihot am chofshi beartseinu
We arrive in front of 3 large pits. Several of our friends and family are already naked and lined up along the edge. Every few seconds, a large bang, and another body disappears into the pits. "Run," dad tells me.
beeretz tzion v'yerushalayim

Day 5: Auschwitz
(I actually wrote this one before we left but ill include it here)

I swear I saw a butterfly
I must be mistaken
because something so pure
does not belong
near a history so black

maybe it is a sign
a soul
a soul we were sure we had lost
but maybe the jubilant path, the musical flutter means
"here we still are,
here I still am
our prayers still resonate
we will continue to soar!"

it is ironic
such beauty and such darkness
juxtaposed to create such horror

but in the shadows
somewhere between the gas chambers and "Arbeit Macht Frei,"
I swore I saw a butterfly

(this one was at Birkenau)

Let us remember
Let us remember the man who lost his faith;
The boy who told himself one day he would reunite with his family
as his family went up in smoke;
The woman whose baby was torn from her arms;
Those who lost all desire to live,
or any hope of living,
or any memory or what it means to be alive.

But let us also recognise
Let us recognise the birds' nests in the trees,
Symbols of the continuation of life;
the woman that survived;
The man that gave his life to save another;
let us recognise that even at Auschwitz, seasons change;
even at Auschwitz, the sun rises
and sets;
and people will come back for generations
to remember
and to recognise;
so let us remember the horror
and never forget
that we lost 6 million battles
but won the war.