posted August 2010
from the manuscript-in-progress
Painting Czeslawa Kwoka
Honoring Children of the Holocaust
poems by Theresa Senato Edwards
paintings by Lori Schreiner
Zigmond Adler
in a grey snapshot, you’re a child in snow, dark, muted moons for eyes. lungs clean before turning to the black dirt owned by Auschwitz.
in a color portrait, blue synthetic sky hugs your frozen face, your black eyes drag us into oblivion. pupils, incessant whirlpools to a dank, vile place.
you’re too young to know whose hand you clutch in dreams. the hand that finds the blush of hope near your mouth, just under the cheekbone.
too young to understand why night erased your parents from your world, why a concrete room strangles, children grabbing your flesh at the collar bone.
Photo of Zigmond Adler., Holocaust victim, used with permission from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Zigmond Adler's heirs, estate, and/or copyright holder of this image. The views or opinions expressed in this collaboration and the context in which the images are used, do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of, nor imply approval or endorsement by, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
all contents © copyright 2010, Theresa Senato Edwards (poems), Lori Schreiner (art), U.S. Holocaust Memorial (photos) / design by Noah Saterstrom