The Eighth Station

THE EIGHTH STATION: CHELMNO

1
A Chorus of Children:

we dreamed
& he changed:
an armed man
but delicate,
driven,
someone who touches us,
touches
our thighs,
strips us naked,
to wound us,
a fugitive,
evil,
aggrieved,
who punishes,
slays us
at evening


2
A Chorus of Survivors

the word
that you feared
like hail
on the mountain
& feared
what would cause it to shine,
to be seen,
like her belly,
like hooks,
like the wheat
on our altars,
all will be eaten,
will not be
a sacrifice
there with the nations,
but a curse
in her womb


Jerome Rothenberg

Posted over on Rothenberg's Homepage