I AM A JEW SHE SAID

Her halo headdress of bronze

with a gold mask exposed her eyes.

Burnt singed cracked edges surround what once

was an innocent Jewish child’s crown of thrones

belonging to her heritage.

She lies in the afterglow of furnaces melting

from the heat of the closed oven’s door before her.

They didn’t take the usual time removing her ragged clothes.

The thin laced collar running over her shoulders and tiny breasts

have left what’s left of her body tattooed.

There’s no shame on her face leaning to her side

on the concrete slab where they’d thrown her.

She wanted them to see her eyes

before they pushed the lever down

closing her into pitch black darkness,

her cheeks a glow;

her nostril’s wide still breathing those who’d gone before her.

Her lips fully rounded with a slight part

hushing out a new ghostly whisper,

I am a Jew she said,

I forgive you;

You know not what you do ~

Rachealgrace Adams

Copyright protected

4/29/12