When Max walked he tottered
the left leg shriveled at birth
a good six inches
blamed the Germans
because they tortured
his grandfather at Bergen- Belson
the tormented genes
never recovering
tainting his father, now him
said I didn’t see the connection
told me the story:
a guy took some rubber
from a broken conveyor belt
for the bottom his tattered shoe
the SS found him
bitter cold that day
stripped him naked
feet seized by a pail of water
the prisoners watching all this
at twilight
left him there
at dawn
liquid now solid ice
incredibly the man still alive
then blew a hole through his heart
no blood
too frigid to flow
Max’s grandfather
unable to breathe
terror too much for him
more to come
a simple death not enough
for the SS
so shot off the dead man’s ear
and crippled Max
for life.
Charles Chaim Wax
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-barbarians-were-beaten-down-but-too-late/
