afterwards
they moved away
to a far flung outpost
on the planet
the furtherest they could get
to forget
never went back
there was no talk of it
she was born later
in the escape zone
a free zone
a cocoa cola drinking
bikini wearing surfer chick
growing up near a white sandy beach
under electric blue skies
but she always knew
what she was never supposed to know
how could she know
was it idle talk assimilated
when she was still in a cot
maybe it was the look
on her nana's face
when she saw the blue numbers
on the deli lady's arm
nevertheless
she felt all of it
she always knew
somehow
she had inherited their terror
Midweek Motif Poets United
“The darkness is really out there. It’s not something that’s in my
head, just. It’s in my work because it’s in the world.”— Margaret Atwood
Oh wow! That close packs a punch.
ReplyDeleteTo inherit terror is a shadow of the darkness that once was. Well put.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers, yes. No amount of sun can stave off the terror, no matter how we vacation in it. We know what is possible. This is a gentle way of hitting us with that punch!
ReplyDeleteWhat a chilling video, with the little mustachioed man and his minions parading down the Champs Elysees...and the Arc de Triomphe, where I have stood, conscious of the ever spinning wheel of history. This is such an intriguing poem. I want to know her and the secrets she harbors. The Margaret Atwood quote at the end is perfect.
ReplyDeleteOh woww this is absolutely chilling to the bone! I can relate to the inheritance of terror.. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteYes. That kind of trauma is generational. We see it in Canada in the descendents of First Nations who survived residential school. This is an important poem. Children absorb everything.
ReplyDeleteLove that last line Yes I do believe terror and darkness can pass on on a different level. We all inherent some of it
ReplyDeleteInteresting surge into the gene pattern. Intriguing poem
ReplyDeleteMuch💟love
You were lucky to have missed the war but fortunate to have your Nana's experience to inherit. Sadly ordinary people are often cannon fodder for leaders ambitions. But when deliberate bias against colour, race or religion is evident you know that a cruel selfish tyrant is in power.
ReplyDeleteI like the way your poem at first seems to be a terrifying vision of a dark future, but is actually a reminder of the dark and not so distant past, Rall. We have indeed inherited that terror.
ReplyDeleteTerror definitely travels in the blood.
ReplyDelete