By Sam Ben-Meir in New York City
He said
to write poetry
after Auschwitz
is obscene–
but what he meant
was that it is inexcusable
to write poetry
as though Auschwitz
never happened,
as though we could
go on as before,
as though it could be
confined to the past,
a nightmare
we wake from.
But it is with us now.
The camps
have not disappeared.
They are carved
into the earth,
etched
into the flesh.
The ovens
still blaze,
and if you breathe
deeply enough,
you will choke
on the ash.
The past
is the present,
and the future too.
I do not forget,
and will not forgive.
*
Sam Ben-Meir is a philosopher and educator whose work focuses on political philosophy, ethics, and contemporary political issues, serving as an assistant adjunct professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, College of Technology.