The “Real Survivors”

Our land was taken away.
Our land was taken away.
But not our spirits.
Playing the Jew
On parade.
It means
Persecution and starvation.
But we move on,
Stubborn as the sun may let us.
Suborn as old mules,
We carry on.
Nomadic.
Ever-changing as the seasons.
Slowly integrating into
new societies,
new lands
that welcome us.
Our land was taken away.
Our land was taken away.
Yet, we persist.
Our God is everywhere.
We persist.
We blend into the background,
Yellow stars melting into our skin.
Secretly. Openly.
We blend.
We blend.
We survive.
We never give up.
We blend.
That’s who we are,
Eating and feeding and cooking and loving.
We gossip.
Talk dirty. Smother
Our children with lovely kisses and hugs.
We are kind and intelligent people,
But history forces us
To move.
To move.
In what direction?

—--Everywhere—--

We own Hollywood.
We own Comedy.
Our land was taken away.
Our land was taken away.
Our children starved.
Our people died.
In horrible death camps.
But, we persist.
We rip off our tattered striped pajamas like dead skin.
We rip off our tattooed number like limp Band-Aids.
We rip off our sorrows like heavy shadows
And grieve
As a whole community.
We rip off prejudices and antisemitism
Like peeling a banana.
We have thick skin.
It can be shattered, scattered to reveal
The shining Jew
Underneath.
We blend, but come out
When tragedy strikes.
Our land was taken away.
Our land was taken away.
Our hearts were saved
Because we stuck together.
Made allies,
Got through it.
We are as tough as
stale bread
but do not crumble.
We are walls of protection and faith.


God is in others.
God is in us.
We are all God .
Our land was taken away.
Our land was taken away.
We persist.
We survive.