My light is Fading | Teen Ink

My light is Fading

March 8, 2016
By Hudella2002 BRONZE, Forest Lake, Minnesota
Hudella2002 BRONZE, Forest Lake, Minnesota
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

The sun is out, my spirits high
How to guess it all would die
The Star of David on my dress
My privileges are less and less
In the ghetto we were forced to live
Low levels of desperation with no food to give
My light is fading

Mommy and daddy have come up with a plan
The life of me and my brother into different hands
A Christian girl I now must be
My parents I have yet to see
New name, new school, new life,
To add upon all my strife
Safe they say
But that doesn't help me through the day
My light is fading

BANG
The door opened like a whip
At that moment my soul began to dip
Betrayed by those we need most
Who would have guessed it would be our host
Nazi's drive us out the door
The words they spit I can take no more
Swept away like fallen dirt
Nobody cares how bad it hurt
My light is fading

We're forced into a cattle car
There are others wearing the yellow star
A three-day long ride to bare
With no food, water or warmth to share
The bathroom is a rusty pail
This wagon is like a musty jail
The bodies of the dead are beginning to smell
I wonder if I'll live to tell
My light is fading

I'm awakened from my sudden slumber
They yell "Out the door!" and I slowly lumbered
A line as long as time awaits
We're fearful of our unknown fate
We gradually move towards the front
A man with a baton only points and grunts
Reaching him he signals left
To sides of people looking bereft
My light is fading

Strip they shout, it's time for a shower
Naked and afraid we began to cower
‘Walk ahead!” roars the agitated beasts
The other Jews speak of a chamber where gas is released
We're headed into a room pitch black
The door swings shut and locks with a CLACK
Everyone says we're going to die
My brother and I just stand and cry
The room fills with a smell of death
I hug my brother and take my last breath
My light has faded


The author's comments:

This poem is a tribute to a young girl named Eva Beem who had to live through the horrors of the Holocaust at the age of ten only to meet an unfortunate end. 


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ecmilla SILVER said...
on Mar. 20 2016 at 10:32 pm
ecmilla SILVER, Berkeley, California
9 articles 0 photos 18 comments
I love this. Heartbreaking and beautifully phrased. One critique (sorry to be the grammar police!!): nazi's should be nazis. Otherwise amazing poem. Great job!