RETURN TO DRESDEN, 1945 World War 1
For the Idelovici family, killed in the firebombing of Dresden
The road is a ribbon of moonlight threading darkness to darkness.
Shadows peel themselves out from trees; we waver, then pass through them.
We’re going home.
No one thought we’d make it past the Czech border, being shoeless, unarmed, our passports long ago bartered.
Behind us, pyramids of munitions gleam from huge pallets: six years, six million lives stacked in weapons.
We leave Therezenstaat to the wolves.
Yesterday we left two children in the woods.
Now we try to muffle their hearts, which throb in our ears, which blind us.
We buried ourselves in the woods.
Just place one foot in front of the other, brother.
Your simplest act of breathing suffocates these angry shadows.
We know we’ll be unrecognizable with our closed faces, our hoarse voices.
We were always unwelcome, but perhaps tonight, we’ll inherit the earth.
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