Cordis Pulsum Tangite
by
Sam Hackel-Butt
(Age: 19)
copyright 10-04-2005
Age Rating: 10 to 127
Dedicated to my Bubby Hertha, a survivor of the Nazi Death Camps.
Written with tears.
Ihmah, please don’t cry.
Please, please.
Things will get better, I promise Ihmah, please.
Everything will be all right, you’ll see.
Adonai hasn’t forgotten us
yet, Ihmah, you’ll see.
He’ll make Abbah return and Zaideh, too!
You have me, Ihmah, so please don’t weep.
Your tears won’t make the flowers grow again.
They won’t satisfy our thirst, nor provide food for us.
Ihmah, don’t think about the smoke, the constant shrieking, or the beatings.
My clothing may be too big, but Ihmah, that doesn’t mean I won’t grow tall!
Eli, Eli, Oh Lord, My God.
Save my Ihmah, let her go free.
Let her flee Poland before she creates a river.
I do not know how to swim yet.
In this hour, without delay, Adonai,
Take us from this place,
Save us from disgrace,
Take us out in that great chariot of fire.
Surely we’re important too?
Please, Ihmah, soon they’ll see,
They’ll see we’re human too.
Soon Ihmah, they’ll stop.
They’ll beg us to forgive them,
For branding us like cattle,
For taking our names,
And giving us a number instead.
114132, Ihmah, that’s my new name now.
No longer am I your little Sarahleh,
No longer am I human.
I love you, Ihmah, just remember that.
I weep as the moon rises,
The chill gnawing through this concrete floor,
Into my very soul.
I fear I won’t…
Survive
Much longer.
I must be defective, Adonai,
For you punish me so.
I hunger, I thirst, and yet you do not provide.
My health is all I have left.
But that is betraying me, too.
In this hour, without delay, take my pulse from my heart.
Fate has dealt me the losing hand, Ihmah.
Forgive me for escaping.
Cry with me, Ihmah,
As I no longer feel the cold.
No longer does the smell of burning
Hair
Or
Flesh
Fill my nostrils.
My stomach does not ache,
And my throat no longer dry.
With the moon I shall leave you.
Say goodbye to Abbah and Zaideh for me.
Remember my name, Ihmah.
Don’t ever forget.
I’ll tell Adonai to free you soon.
Note about the poem:
The title means 'take the pulse of my heart.' This could be wrong, as I got this from a translation from the lyrics for 'O Fortuna,' which helped inspire this poem. Roughly, this poem is about a young Jewish girl and her mother in a concentration camp during WW2. They are in a camp for people who will be gassed, or burnt alive. They are awaiting their turn. Her father and grandfather were taking to a working camp. The Nazi's would place the Jews (or others seemed unworthy to live, and didn't fit the mold of perfection Hitler preached) into either working camps, or death camps. Death for the weak, sickly, or young. Work for the strong and able.
Ihmah = mother
Abbah = father
Bubby = grandmother
Zaideh = grandfather
Eli, Eli = Oh Lord, My God
Adonai = God
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This is most moving -I can almost feel the desperation of the times and the situation.
I feel this goes beyond those time to all times though thank God not as extreme. People separating into groups and passing judgment on other groups and the stronger judging their worthiness to live.
I wish more of us had the courage of those in the camps.
This was a well-crafted poem and a vivid story.
Thanks for reminding me that we are all brothers and sisters and all responsible for what happens on our planet.
This is great! I love how you used translations. The Holocaust was a very difficuult time period. We just learned about it in school. I had to write a story about it so I put it here on PnP, It's called a Holocaust story". Check it out.
Very emotional and strong, but very sad. We can read about it and see documentaries about it, but can never imagine what the horror was like. You have brought this horror a little closer to home.
Wow...It's so beautiful! I remember when you said you submitted this in chat. I read it forever ago, but didn't comment...This is a very beautiful poem, and sad. It's amazingly creative too. The choice of words and words in the other language is a really nice touch. And second time I read this I knew what it all mean before reading the bottom! Well, not the point. This is a truly beautiful poem. Wonderful work. I like the was you laid it out and used HTML too. It really accented the other language. I could never write something this good...How you got the idea, even though it's stated, is amazing...I only get inspired to write depressing dark... This is wonderfully written and the parts in the other language really hooked me. Amazing!
Too beautiful... I don't know what to say. It's so... superb, wonderful, splendid, glorious, brillian, outstanding, superlative, stunning, marvelous, grand, beautiful, impressive, bravura, and resplendent. Just like you and all your other writings!
P.S. This list of synonyms I'm going to be using a lot!
I think the most admirable aspect of the poem - literarily speaking - is the slow transition of the narrator. This was an honest and believable evolution from hope to dispair. Well done.
If this literary gem does not deserve a five, I don't know what does! You were obviously heavenly inspired to narrate a passage, a glimpse in the life and time of a suffering family, of a suffering people whose lives hung in the balance of a demented tyrant and evil that was Adolph Hitler. This literary work of art is one of the most moving and vivid pieces of prose that I've ever encountered. My congratulations to you, for your mind is beyond the ordinary and its inspiration will serve humanity well! Believe me, I know what I'm talking about!
This is amazing, Sam. Just the other day I saw a documentary of Hiroshima. There was no warning there, no time. The lives of a few Japanese were described, they were fleshed out, not merely stick-figures that would be easy to incinerate. I cried, as you did, thinking of all the beautiful young and old lives cut short.
You've described the Holocaust but very similar scenes are painted every day as wars and man's inhumanity to man continues
That was a horror that not one soul should have had to endure. I have a dear friend that's close to my heart who was there as well with her husband and entire family. They were not Jewish, but Jehovah's Witnesses.
They were the first one in the camps, even before the Jews and were told daily all they had to do was deny their faith and their God and they could leave the camp. Imagine their integrity to refuse to leave under such a condition.
Well, you'd think you can not tell someone who has been at a concentration camp from anyone else if their tattoos are covered. But you can... you can see the immense sadness deep within their orbs that permeates every gaze despite whatever smile they try to wear at the time.
Well, thank you for writing this and sharing the emotions here.
Welcome !
