Act I: Survival.
Scour structure for food.
One dried pea in corner dust.
Halve, save for later.
Jackboot kicks fish tin
close. You wait till guard is turned.
Precious oil: food, light.
Amid coughs, groans, moans:
strike match. Cup warmth. Shadows flick,
huddled faces blink.
Among the dying,
men injected with gas, air;
you lie, hidden, life.
They’d made it so far,
only to have lives, hope wrenched
on cusp of freedom.
Act II: Liberation, 1945.
Walking skeleton.
Starvation melted your flesh.
How can you stand, breathe?
Skeletal fingers
fumble, strike. Match light flickers,
your famished face sighs.
Dead piled like kindling.
Crush of guilt overwhelms you.
Out of all, why you?
Indecision, grief.
Flee this place, but where to go?
There’s nothing left here.
The path to rebuild
your life again from nothing
seems gargantuan.
On hospital cot,
you stare, huddle, rock, trembling.
No one asks for you.
© Scriptor Obscura and Scriptor Obscura Writes, All Rights Reserved.
Written for Trifecta.
Amazing…stunning and thought provoking.
Wow, thank you so much. I’m so glad you liked it.
I really did, and thank you for trying to assist me at Trifecta also.
You’re welcome, glad to help.
Very powerful images.
Thank you so much, Bee.
So sad, but not to be forgotten…
Never forget.
woah. powerful images here.
Thank you so much, Trinity.
This is masterful. 333 words AND Haiku AND a bone-chilling story, too boot. This should win. BTW: Are your books newly released? I don’t remember seeing them on your website before, but that could be because I was so engrossed and overwhelmed by the post I’d just read.
Wow. Thank you so much for your compliments, I am really honored. My grandparents on both sides of the family survived the Holocaust, so I have a lot of interest and familiarity with this topic. They had to rebuild their lives in a new country and learn a new language too. I’ve written about the Holocaust a lot on here, its one of the topics I’ve written about the most, actually. I think if you just search Holocaust on here you’ll find a lot of the other stuff I’ve written about it here…I’m really honored by your compliments, I don’t know what to say. It means so much to me that I’ve found someone like you who likes my writing so much. I never thought it would really happen. I really don’t know what else to say. The books aren’t newly released, I actually self-published them through lulu.com back in April of 2011, but I never posted or promoted them at all until now because initially I just thought they were just a piece of shit (my first effort, you know) and I was MORTIFIED that anyone else would find out about them, let alone actually BUY them, so I didn’t want to promote my books at all until I had something that I was REALLY proud of, something that I felt was my best work, something that looked like something you would really find in a library, library-quality, bookstore-quality, you know. But then I figured that I was never going to put in all the effort to make a bookstore-quality copy, I was never going to want to go back and do all that effort all by myself just to make them look so good like that, and I figured, you know, what the hell, since no one was gonna buy them anyway, I might as well promote and share them, you know, it wasn’t gonna make any difference anyway. My friend Joe kept pestering me to promote my books and I never wanted to, I was mortified to, and then I just said what the hell, OK, its not gonna make any difference anyway, I might as well do it. He’s the only one who has ever (and probably will ever) buy a copy of both of my books, and he really liked them, so I’m lucky to have him, to have someone as nice as him. He also posted about and promoted my books on his own blog too, which is really so nice of him, more than I can say:
http://joe2poetry.wordpress.com/
He’s a really nice guy and a good friend, so I’m lucky in that way. I figured, what the hell, I wasn’t gonna sell any copies anyway, so I might as well just promote them, you know, it wasn’t going to make any difference anyway. And someday I’ll maybe do a compilation of all my writing that I can be really proud of. My dream is to be published for real. I want to walk into a bookstore and to see my books there for sale. That would be INCREDIBLE, really incredible. I would also like to walk into my local library and see my books there for people to check out. That would be…there’s no words. I don’t know. Anyway, thank you so much for all your support, Linda (and Joe!), I’m really grateful, more than you could ever know. I’m so grateful to have met you (and Joe!
) here on WordPress. You’re a really nice, thoughtful person, and I’m so glad to know you. 
A quiet! You’re going to give me a big head.
But seriously those two books are really good. All of you should buy them.
Well, I just bought one! So there. I am fascinated by your connection to the Holocaust. I figured you had to have some personal connection to the topic because not many people focus on it as you have. My grandfather left Germany in 1925. His brother stayed behind. They were not Jewish, but they suffered. The whole damned country suffered. The whole world suffered. I have read a lot about that period of history. I have been close to one of the camps, but did not want to visit the place in the company of other people. That sounds weird, but I know I need to go there by myself. To be with my own heart and the ghost spirits of all those poor, poor people, not just the ones who died, but also the ones who survived. I am curious about your experience with Lulu. I’ve helped a couple of people get their books published through CreateSpace and Kindle and found those platforms to be marvelous. What are the advantages with Lulu? (feel free to email, if you find the reply form tedious. Linda@rangewriter.biz
The spare language here really highlights the horror of the subject matter; well done.
Thank you so much, Annabelle.
That last line raised the tiny hairs on my arms, it brought it to a personal level for me. To have to endure bottomless loneliness after having survived so much…
Nicely done Haiku Scriptor! Very powerful images are brought up.
Thank you so much, Joe, I really appreciate it.
Incredibly powerful and heartbreaking. I absolutely love your writing. I know whatever I am going to read of yours, it won’t disappoint.
Wow. Thank you so much, you’re very kind.
I love your work, Scriptor, all of it, every time I come here to read it. The arrangement of the language, the thought provoking content is unmatched. You may be surprised how many copies of your books sell. It’s worth a try putting them out there.
I don’t know what to say…Thank you so much for your kind words, Steph, I really appreciate it. Your comments and your encouragement are most appreciated. You’re very kind.
So much conveyed in so few lines…very powerful.
Thank you so much.
The imagery is painfully vivid. Masterful.
This is intense and so well-written.
very powerful.. haunting.. brilliant writing.
This is so creative and well-written. After reading about the legendary Marine sniper chris Kyle being killed at a gun range in Texas by someone with PTSD, this really sank into my head and heart. I love the part about skeletons. It has like 3 meanings.
outstanding
As always you’ve written a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking piece.
Thank you so much for always commenting, Janna, even if I don’t respond. I’m honored by your compliments.
Outstanding oeuvre. Methodical magnificence. Ingenious imagery. I am moved.
Wow, thank you so much, I’m honored. Thanks for subscribing to my blog also. I see we both have Joe in common. A fine friend.
This is phenomenal!Once again you have wowed me with the prowess of your pen.One of the most heart wrenching piece of history which left none untouched,is the Holocaust.To be able to touch upon this subject in such a sensitive manner, is admirable.It was achingly painful to be transported to that terrible place with the victim(s) here!I salute your creativity & your sensitive soul,Scriptor!
Kudos on the haikus. The last one of Act I is marvelous.
Very powerful. Well crafted.
Wow. Yep, that’s all I can think of to say. Oh, and that you definitely have my vote.
I’ve not considered writing a haiku story before, but I’m going to do that in the future now I’ve seen how you’ve done it.
Never forget; Nie vergessen.