Marc Chagall, The Cemetery Gates
Bitter-breasted men crush us
driving us on
in a repulsive show
of blood and sweat.
As storm sprays a blackened sky
and wind screams,
“Never again,”
we sing of if
and whisper when.
Even the Oracle is appalled, but she still gave me “if.”
This week protesters in New York, Boston, and elsewhere were singing mir veln zey iberlebn “We Will Outlive Them.”
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
. What’s happening is crushing the spirit, that our nation will go down in history with this black mark on its soul is unbearable. You’ve expressed it wonderfully. 💕
Thank you very much, Holly. As I said, even the Oracle is appalled. 😦
😔
She really showed where her sympathies lie. I don’t understand this debate about concentration camps. Is it just ignorance about what the term actually means? Do the people who say it’s a terrible exaggeration know that the first concentration camps were set up by the British in South Africa, where they locked up Boer families to intimidate the men into surrender?
Well, we knew where her sympathies would like. 🙂 Yes, ignorance. Let’s worry about the term instead of what’s going on. UGHHHH!
Like his speech about the airports in the war of independence. Is he really so thick, or is he just making people laugh at him rather than hate him?
I honestly think there’s something physically wrong with him that is affecting his brain–I think he is that thick. On the other hand, I think he also says and does things as a distraction–like all his tweets.
A stupid man who pretends to be even stupider is a real danger. And what does that say about the people who vote for him?
Yes. . .sigh.
Despots love to focus on words instead of the reality of the actions behind them. Of course the Oracle is appalled. As should all of us be…(K)
Yes, indeed. Thank you, Kerfe!
“Bitter-breasted men”: oh, how true, how true. And this here as well, from memadtwo: “Despots love to focus on words instead of the reality of the actions behind them.” We should call these camps what they are, “crimes against humanity.” George Takei has written that when he and his family were placed in internment camps (twice), (1) he was never separated from his family; and (2) they were given toothpaste and soap. So what could we call these camps where people are caged in worse conditions than dogs at an animal shelter?
Here I go again.
Your poem is so moving, I can hear the Oracle screaming at us.
Thank you so much, Marie.
I work on the book and read about horrible people and incidents, and then I hear the news. . . The Oracle is definitely screaming.
Another thing that George Takei has said that stood out to me is that people still do not know about the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII. Given our president, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by ignorance anymore, but still, I am.
So much of it seems like willful ignorance too: “if it didn’t happen to me, then it didn’t happen.” The rewriting of history textbooks doesn’t help either. I take solace in that my youngest nephew is a high school history teacher in South Carolina (transplanted from upstate NY). He’s also a Holocaust scholar, having been awarded over his career several scholarships and fellowships to study and teach about the Holocaust. He just recently came back from France where he and a group of Fellows attended the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles. Did I mention that I’m very proud of him? He is only one man but he’s in the position to influence so many young people.
You are right, Marie. And I see memes spreading fake history all the time. There are a lot historians on Twitter who are active. Your nephew sounds like a wonderful person and scholar. (My cousin’s cousin is also a Holocaust scholar.) My daughter does a big Holocaust unit with her eighth graders when they read The Diary of Anne Frank. She shows them interviews with survivors, etc.
This was a brilliant punch in the gut. A necessary one.
Thank you, Dale. Sometimes it does seem necessary.
Indeed!
I could not press LIKE on your post today . . . oh, the agony!
It is horrible what is going on. I’m hoping that’s what you meant.
Yes!
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Such a powerful use of this material
Thank you very much, Derrick.
I am as appalled as the Oracle and others. “Bitter-breasted men” describes them well. We should all be screaming with the wind. I don’t understand the battle over words when it should be a battle over terrible deeds. Well done, Merril.
Thank you, Robin. I don’t understand it either. People are arguing over flags and words while children are in cages, and dt still has his followers.
That “when” is as important as anything else. When is enough enough?
Yes, you are right. It is very frustrating.