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BOXCAR
Assaulted by brick and steel, my sister and I cross
the glass bridge between then and now, touch
Szumsk, the Polish town
our grandparents came from, walk into
Ejszyszki Tower eyeing photo doppelgängers
of relatives we call the monkey aunts,
of an uncle who couldn’t skate the ’36 Olympics,
of our parents, ourselves.
My younger sister has married a Baptist, raised
children who don’t believe they are Jews;
yet she – riveted – is moving snail’s-pace.
So when I come upon it, I am alone.
It’s an old red cattle car like those from
our Missouri childhood, counted as they
clacked by full of livestock
due for slaughter. But this one is different.
To avoid passing through, I pretend
to examine oxidized razors, forks,
tea strainers, then metal instruments
of torture which up-close
become umbrella frames. I check my watch,
consider flight…
yet as I turn, I see my sister
by the boxcar unwilling to enter. Why are
we here? Hurrying toward her, I move past
cart, suitcases, hat boxes. What will it tell us?
For a moment, we are side by side, aware of
primal, physical comfort. Then together
we step in. It is dark. We do not speak.
After 50 years, stench still saturates
the boards. As I inhale it, I feel fingers
tug at edges of my skirt,
my sweater, my hands. Small, sweaty heads
I can’t see butt me, begging for refuge,
those who would not have been spared:
my children, my sister’s Mischling children,
my own Mischling grandchildren.
Suddenly, a soprano voice echoes around us.
Choo-choo. Turning, we see a boy-child
havened between his parents.
He smiles, nods sweetly, beckoning to us and to
the invisible hordes pressed close. Choo-choo,
he repeats. Choo-choo. All aboard…
By Susan Terris from her long poem IN THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
first appeared in Many Mountains Moving
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REVIEWS
"A memorial to truth, these are poems that speak truth, wrenching and chilling as it may be. Susan Terris’ Eye of the Holocaust is a book to do battle with the assassins of memory. A very powerful collection."
-Robert Sward
"Appearing in this almost devastatingly emotional work are a variety of people in different countries, times and tragic situations. Susan Terris’ unique craft and vision illuminate and intensify the poetry until it goes far beyond the original intent and then we take over. This book must be read by everyone with a conscience, a sense of history, a need to know."
-Ruth Daigon, From One Future to the Next
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