I used to write a lot of poetry but as I got older, it petered out and it seemed as if it was a youthful thing that I'd left behind. I realised that I had left my creative side totally behind me.
A few years ago I visited a place that was so inspiring that I had to write about it. The poem was, I feel, a little clumsy but I was loathe to change anything about it. Since then I have written the odd poem but that was the start of my latest journey. More recently I have written some funny poems about friends, for particular leaving parties, etc and have started to find my tongue again. I have a way to go but at least I have started. At some point I will show you where the last odyssey ended so you can see where I have come from but for today, here is the start of the current voyage:
It was raining lightly and grey
Taking the colour out of life
Painting a setting for this day
For this very special day
Within these tree lined aisles
Out of these many buildings
Would march the rank and file
Sixty years ago
Engaged in their construction
Making room for more of them
Did they know of the destruction
A thousand yards away
Within a mound there is a chamber
With room for the two thousand
Had they known about the danger
When they were herded in?
Next to the chamber burns a fire
Within the belly of a furnace
Three at a time for the funeral pyre
Unnamed they are cast aside
Their souls escape in smoke
Leaving an image in this place
Of tightening throats that choke
A final prayer before they still
Are the given lessons learned
Are they etched within your heart
Or have they too been burned
Too charred to now be read
© Mark Stahlmann 2002
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