That promise, made under the broiling
heat of anger at all those incalculable
losses, repeated like the mourner’s
kaddish over decades (eight to be exact)
… that promise has not been fulfilled.
For, here we are, fighting those so fearful,
so unwilling to see the other as they
believe themselves to be. Could this
country embrace Nietzsche’s plea to
‘distrust all in whom the urge to punish
is strong?’ Could we, instead, talk to
one another? Learn each other’s stories?
Break bread together? Come, the time is
now, always now, to rebel, resist, push back
the bile of hate. We must act, with faith,
that one day, we will evolve into the best
humanity can become despite the grey
shadows of doubt that hover, that often
hide the golden rays of hope that linger.
Hate? Never again. Never again. Halevai…
from Poetry Super Highway's 27th Annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Issue featuring 56 poets remembering the Holocaust. To read the other contributors, please visit https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/27th-annual-yom-hashoah-holocaust-remembrance-day-poetry-issue/