Poems for Peace: 'What the War Taught Her'

Poetry

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What the War Taught Her

by John Guzlowski

My mother learned that sex is bad,
Men are worthless, it is always cold
And there is never enough to eat.

She learned that if you are stupid
With your hands you will not survive
The winter even if you survive the fall.

She learned that only the young survive
The camps. The old are left in piles
Like worthless paper, and babies
Are scarce like chickens and bread.

She learned that the world is a broken place
Where no birds sing, and even angels
Cannot bear the sorrows God gives them.

She learned that you don't pray
Your enemies will not torment you.
You only pray that they will not kill you.

John Guzlowski, born in a Displaced Persons camp following World War II, has placed some of his poems about his parents' experience as slave laborers in Nazi Germany at The Scream Online.

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