“No Words”

I don’t have the words to say what I see

I’m not always able to draw on the pictures in my head

To show what is done to me

I am the child sent to Auschwitz because my gaze is deemed vacant

I am she whom many men violate while laughing at my bewilderment

I am the ‘retard’ you tell to shut up

I try to talk but you shrink away

I live in many cages

My mother’s smile seems too far away

Why can’t I remember?

When will we go home?

It’s loud here. Everyone cries. My privates hurt.

And over everything else, the ancient sound of tyranny comes closer

Mother, father, sister, I pray

No one hears

They watch me without blinking

And their mouths say the ancient words

The words used on special people like me

I have no weapons against words

I let the cage in my mind’s eye close

There are only so many ways to be strong