Barbara Baldwin

THE GERMAN VERSION

We suffered too      No one knew           what was



   Happening          we did not           see the camps



They    were         in the forests             we did not 



   Hear      those     people driven     through    there



Was the blackout       We kept  our curtains 



  Closed with pins    It was         the law







The smoke was always      with us   when   they burned



When it was over     Father had nothing   we fought 



With old friends   over dirt-bread     stood in 



Grey lines    waiting     our turn      Reichmarks



Were useless      Mother  never embroidered    after



Those others    had homes    in the end









Headstones covered     all         our    green   



Our city      was       ruined            only        ashes 



Now     here                   again







This     Jewish  Propaganda

("The German Version" came about after reading Escape From Sobibor, in a day-job break room. A much loved older worker confronted me, furious at the mere sight of the text. She had been the loyal daughter of a German officer. This breathless monologue-as-poem demonstrates her ongoing hatred of the victims of the Holocaust, decades later. I owe the title of this poem to my dearly loved mentor and friend, Carolyn Kizer. -BB )

Barbara Ellen Baldwin holds an MFA in poetry, creative writing and literary editing, and has a BA in Communications.An English tutor, she also works as book reviewer/assistant editor for renowned literary sites. Work has appeared in: The Lullwater Review, Fugue, The West Wind Review, Pivot, Speakeasy, Plainsong, The Snail Mail Review, Blue Unicorn, Gulf Stream, the North Wind Review, and elsewhere. She is editing a new manuscript, Feeding The Anxiety Dog and is studying ASL with a private tutor.