nightmares that last all day

We wake up
To the fear of whether this will be our last day to breathe in the air around us, Our last chance to feel the sunlight,
Or whether it will all be instantly over. We cannot decide which outcome is worse.

As the small Jewish boy anxiously hides under the wooden floorboard, waiting
for this awful nightmare to pass, he struggles to figure out what it is he did to deserve this.

Keeping our heads down so we do not have to look into the eyes of our murderers.
Because watching the innocent soul of the man who snuck you a piece of his bread being ripped away from him as the shiny, silver cylinder strikes his head; that is like seeing all the colors of the rainbow being slowly washed away
Right before your eyes.

And when that water that we haven't felt for weeks finally hits our face it is as if those colors have appeared again, even vibrant than ever.
All that happiness is stripped away once we see the gas coming from the chamber across the camp; Our children are now gone.
Do not be fooled by the bars of soap.

Look alive.
The blood from our fingertips is almost as red as our cheeks should be to pass this physical.

And as the never ending flood of bodies pile up on one another, We hold on to what little we have left.
but we never seem to be holding tight enough.

If power is what they so desperately yearn for,
and to get power there must be control,
and to get control there must be fear;
Then why are we so afraid?

Take our clothes, take our photos, take our hair,
We will surrender it all to you.
But what you will not see from us is our pain and misery.
For we will glue on these bulletproof masks, and we will wear them well.
I guess that is the only way out.