My Mama

My Papa

My Sister

My Brother

All gone

Tick Tock

Mama was taken from the ghetto,

Promising she will be back.

Papa was taken on a march, never to be seen again.

My sister and brother were whisked away

From my grasp

Placed on trains,

Never seeing their angelic faces smile at me again.

Still, I wait.

Tick Tock

Days, months, and what feels like years

Pass me by.

Tick Tock

Soon, I wait stark naked in line

For what was told to be showers

With trembling women and children all around me

Babies whimpered in their mothers' cradled arms

As the mothers attempt to soothe the whimpers of their infants

Swaying them back and forth in their frail, weak arms

Toddlers holding tight to their brother's or sister's hand

Tick Tock

We are soon marched into a dark, damp room

The stench of death was present, almost visible to

The naked eyes

The door is slammed shut behind us,

With a loud thunderous boom

Plunging into total darkness

Tick Tock

My nose and mouth begin to fill

With an unpleasant smell

Making it all the while difficult to breath

The Nazis wait

Tick Tock

I begin to feel faint

Losing myself

My soul slowly departing from me

Abandoning my physical body

I no longer feel pain

Tick Tock

I no longer care

Tick Tock

The cries of women, children

All begin to stop

As my breathe does.

Tick Tock

The Nazis invade

To burn our corpses

As we watch from above

Our bodies' burn before our dead eyes

The next group is ushered in…

Tick Tock