April 2024
Bio Note: The world has witnessed countless tragedies over the years, and many of us have carried the burdens of injustices suffered by our defenseless ancestors. Although not directly affected by the Holocaust in India, my poems reflect the history and suffering of the Jewish people as I discovered that some families fled to India to seek refuge from persecution. Everywhere in countries in the Middle East, Jews were forced to abandon their homes and businesses, and my poem, "Questions from a Refugee" was based on a video asking why one never talks about Jewish refugees from the Middle East.
Questions From A Refugee
Have you forgotten the pogroms
when I was driven out from many lands
forced to abandon my homes, my businesses?
Have you forgotten how I left with nothing?
Was I called a refugee in your lexicon
or was there another word for it?
Have you forgotten the broken glass
my home and shops destroyed
while I made plans to flee
hunted no matter where I ran?
We break glass at weddings, births
We say Mazel tov, a shout of joy
But not that night.
Yellow stars belong to the sky
I had to wear one on my arm.
Would you call me a refugee
If the river and the forest in darkness
Were the only desperate hope
Of hiding my existence?
There were no protests, no hunger strikes
When the water in the showers turned to gas
When fierce dogs tore at my heels
While I stood helpless before my God?
Do you have a name for me
Or am I the number tattooed on my arm
Which the smoke engraved for permanence?
Remember me too in your prayers
as I remember all those I watch
on the television screen
our suffering merges
No history can erase it.
Come quickly Lord
May we all find refuge in you
It’s the only place
I’m willing to live in exile.
©2024 Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL