AFTER AUSCHWITZ
Anger
as black as a hook
overtakes me
each day
each nazi
took at 8 am
a baby
and sauteed him for breakfast
in his frying pan
And death looks on with a casual eye
and picks at the dirt under his fingernail
man is evil
I say aloud
man is a flower
that should be burnt
I say aloud
Man is a bird full of mud
I say aloud
and death looks on with a casual eye
and scratches his an*s
man with his small pink toes
with his miraculous fingers
is not a temple
but an outhouse
I say aloud
Let man never again raise his teacup
Let man never again write a book
Let man never again put on his shoe
let man never again raise his eyes
on a soft July night
never
never
never
never
never
I say these things aloud
I beg the Lord not to hear
–Anne Sexton
A Donkeys prayer
We never know how high we are
till we are called to rise
And then if we are true to plan
our statures touch the skies
The heroism we recite
would be a daily thing
did not ourselves the cubits warp
for fear to be king
–Emily Dickenson
