Flowers of Horror
People who love flowers
Cannot be bad
Says the proverb.
But take the insight
With a grain of salt
For malignant hands
Can turn flowers
Into graceless means
Of lies and deception.
During World War II
The National Socialists
Perfected the dark art
Of deceit by exploiting
The beauty of nature
To disguise and shroud
Their fiendish goals
Of ruin and destruction.
The skies darkened then
Even in the sunshine
Violets trembled
And forget-me-nots
Whispered worries
Wobbling in the wind.
Sixty km north of Prague
A barbed wire fence
Above the camp gate
Of Terezin, the sign said:
Arbeit macht frei.
Here the Nazis set up
The model ghetto
Theresienstadt where
Work made the inmates
Free and they could plant
Colourful flowers.
Buds of starvation
Blossoms of death.
Do not worry
The daffodils said.
This is a friendly place
The hyacinths sighed.
Do not revolt
The roses rustled.
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
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