Eyes

 Eyes look out


Eyes look out from photos

Unblinking, full of life and hope

Now witness to the holocaust

That took their lives and futures

But could not take their memory. 


Eyes that connect with mine

Across the years and beyond the grave 

Their gazes unaware of horrors

Encountered in their final hours 

We shall remember and revere them. 


What man can do to fellow man

What executioners can justify

Now repeated as we crucify

Our precious world whose innocence

Offers no protection from the mindless. 


Innocent eyes stare out unaware

Of what lay ahead as they fall 

Their noses could not yet smell the gas 

That would claim them naked 

In the killing rooms of extermination halls. 


Standing in the tragic gap

Between man’s love and hatred

Holding two truths in our hands

Unwilling to succumb to baseless hope

Nor equally to helpless grief. 


We will take another step upon our journey 

That invites all pilgrims in the morning 

Heading West with faith intact 

Walking cheerfully with happy feet,

Raising hopes in all we meet. 

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