A rhyming poem pertinent to the current plight of Syrian refugees.
The story of Anne Frank has long been told
in the diary kept by this young girl
as the horrors of Nazism did unfold,
with a hidden apartment her whole world.
Discovered, arrested, and then confined
in the Bergen-Belsen concentration
camp, dead at age fifteen because of blind
hatred of Jews by the Nazi nation,
Anne Frank might have lived a full life instead.
Her family sought safety in the U.S.
Refugees fleeing the coming bloodshed,
Jews found Americans lacked in kindness.
Anne Frank and countless other Jews were turned
back by our pre-World War II refusal
to come to their aid, their bodies then burned
in Nazi ovens. Timing was crucial.
As a nation we missed our chance to save
countless Jewish refugees. Today more
refugees are seeking to flee a grave
Syrian threat. Do we again close our door?
How many women and children will die
because we let our ignorance and fear
rule the day? Will we once again stand by
as innocents must pay a price too dear?
Given the chance to save Jews like Anne Frank,
wouldn’t we today rush to help them survive?
Current history’s pages now remain blank.
Shouldn’t we keep the Anne Franks of today alive?
Forget Jerry Bolton's bigoted statement. To date, and it's been at least four years, not one single Syrian refugee has been linked to any terrorism.
You are absolutely right in informing everyone in your poem that the United States rejected many Jews fleeing the Nazis for reasons very similar to those used today to avoid taking responsibility for those innocent people just trying to save themselves. Most refugees, if given the choice, will return to their homeland as soon as it is safe enough to go home.
Robin Ouzman Hislop's poetry is certainly in dialogue with some of the key architects of the 'poetics of indeterminacy' – both the Modernist strands represented by the likes of Beckett and Stein, and the postmodernist strands represented, initially,
Early Works is an exhaustive compilation of the first decade of the poems and stories of Z.B.McClure. Included are family photos, rare personal photos, photos of 1st draft manuscripts of many of his early poems. Also some biography and memoir materia
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You are absolutely right in informing everyone in your poem that the United States rejected many Jews fleeing the Nazis for reasons very similar to those used today to avoid taking responsibility for those innocent people just trying to save themselves. Most refugees, if given the choice, will return to their homeland as soon as it is safe enough to go home.
Ron