Shadow Wall (Podiceps cristatus)
The memorial stretches
along the Nieuwe Keizersgracht
over 200 Jewish names, or rather
Dutch names that were still
a little too Jewish
Engraved plaques set in concrete
moss-etched bricks & ants
crawling over the names
the ages & which death camp
collected their shoes, took their lives
A Great-crested Grebe
head & eyes like fire, back like ash
cuts a V through the reflections
of houses across the canal
where the murdered once lived
He dives near #12
home of Walter & Elizabeth Leib
killed at Auschwitz
first him, October 1942, then her
the following September
along with their children
Gustave, age 2 & Friede, age 1
Flying underwater
the bird catches a glimpse
of red hats & the tiki torches
of Charlottesville, gunfire at
a Walmart in El Paso
He resurfaces at #20,
home of Sara & Klara, ages 9 & 5
who were taken from this world
on a postcard-perfect day,
April 1943, at Sobibór
The post Shadow Wall appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Marc Beaudin.
Marc Beaudin | Radio Free (2021-05-10T07:03:01+00:00) Shadow Wall. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/05/10/shadow-wall-2/
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