By Maya Baranovsky
Her eyes grew wide and glassy as she stared at the ceiling, clutching her bear.
Seven years old. Terrified and alone. Her parents, cousins, friends…Where had they gone? She didn’t know.
Just days ago, her family was gathered around a table, celebrating Hanukkah. She remembered asking why the other children at school didn’t celebrate with her. Now she huddled with hundreds of others in molding showers surrounded by the sounds of shouting soldiers, of metal scraping against metal, the soft hiss of gas moments before the showers came to life and a little teddy bear tumbled silently to the floor.
A timely reminder. Well done.
Heart wrenching.
poignant
Hello Maya,
Years ago, I read a novel about the bombing of Hiroshima. The author did not dwell on the horrific loss of life, but rather on four survivors, making it a clinical story of the number of deaths, but a heart-wrenching, close-up-and-personal examination of real people’s sufferings and experiences in a very few words.
With this exemplary work you have achieved the same emotional resonance in me.
Kudos!
I meant to say “making it NOT a clinical …”
Chapeau…
AHHHHH THIS IS SO GOOD ILY MAYA
A heart-wrenching story. Well done.
Wow, you got me with that one. So sad but beautifully written
I will read this poem at the Kaddish portion of a Service I am leading at my Temple this coming Friday evening.
David T.