belfasttelegraph.co.uk
The tinkling shattered glass of Kristallnacht
still echoes through the years,
the night when the crystal heart of mankind
fractured, and
took a dark turning,
from which there was
no place to hide.
For Susan's prompt at Mid Week Motif: Glass, or glasses
I thought of the sound of breaking glass on this night of infamy, Kristallnacht, November 9/10, 1938, when Jewish synagogues , businesses and homes were attacked and destroyed, and many were killed, millions more to follow.
Powerful and real truth, that fractured crystal heart, real power in this. Really makes each of us think about our own hearts and attitudes. Well written.
ReplyDelete"still echoes through the years..." ~ Strong reminder.
ReplyDeleteugh. a scary echo...ever forward...
ReplyDeletedef one of our darker moments
a group from our school just went to the holocaust museum in DC...such an emotional place so full of ghosts and memories...
I hear it in your poem. I fear it for anyone's culture. I try to remember that the recent increased anti-semitism is NOT government sponsored. But the heart can never completely mend again. Thank you!
ReplyDeletePowerful words my friend. Well done!
ReplyDeleteLike Susan said, the recent increase in antisemitism isn't government sponsored. On the other hand, I doubt that is much of a comfort to victims.
ReplyDeleteA sensitive reminder Sherry.I could never imagine the horror of such a night (until recently). More than glass shatters when man hates...
ReplyDeleteThis is a night the world must not forget.
ReplyDeleteSo sad, broken glass, broken hearts, broken people.
ReplyDeleteHow careful we must all be to see the warning signs even in our own lives. Governments should attempt to govern for all the people not just a faction. This is happening now all over the world as vested interests steer governments decisions to the detriment of the population and of the world. Thank you Sherry for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteLoved this line: crystal heart of mankind... how sad so much history is... the shortness of this worked well for the piece
ReplyDeleteSo much broken in the truth here. Very powerful, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteOh my word...what a poignant and powerful-meaningful response to this challenge, Sherry. Thank you. ♥
ReplyDeletetragic....glass is dangerous...well mentioned as History has many examples events and places to refer to and maybe learn some lessons, but alas!
ReplyDeletechilling, Sherry ~
ReplyDeletemost of mankind's history is sadness, horror & darkness...and one scary thing is history repeats itself...what unfortunate species is the human kind. ...great lines...you really made us hear those tinkling Sherry...sigh...
ReplyDeleteBreaking glass can be the sound of terror...in this case beautifully and empathically conveyed...like all the terror distilled and understood in your poem
ReplyDeleteSuch echoes are needed even though they disturb.
ReplyDeleteyes, the sound of broken glass no matter where seems to always shatter the calm and peace of quiet
ReplyDeletegood piece
gracias
What a frightening event ~ Yet, we see this happening even today ~ Good one Sherry ~
ReplyDeleteA nightmare that was reality. We seem to be headed in another era of hatred.
ReplyDeleteWhat a poignant poem, Sherry!! I sincerely wish that the world in which we live be free from all kinds of threats...lets have a human balance , humanly!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful ...
Sherri, you have expressed so much within a few lines. It is quite incredible and powerful.
ReplyDeleteNot the first time Sherry, and certainly not the last. The Mongols, the Greeks, Romans, the Crusades, the Spanish conquistadors have all pillaged, burnt and carried on with all manner of atrocities. The partition of India has seen similar mindless monstrosities and of late, we have the fanatics in Syria and Iraq. These perps were and are, very much human, but are they, really
ReplyDeleteLaura's grandmother Hanna, an Auschwitz survivor, thanks you from heaven. The sad story, repeated too many times, still resonates, but this singular take on glass in the Kristallnacht horror is brief and absolutely on point. I wonder sometimes at our stay on this planet, all the hatred visited on the disenfranchised, the sorryass history of humankind. Great work, babe. Love, Amy PS could not comment as Sharp Little Pencil because I am WordPress and you are Blogger and they, too, are fighting for supremacy. The irony is not lost on me.
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteThe falling shards of twinkling glass, reminds me so vividly of my own personal experience in Belfast. Caught in the midst of a huge bomb explosion, while walking along a pavement from my nursing employment. I was suddenly showered with fine pieces of glass, fallling from the sky, like rain. The shock remains with me still, after almost forty years..
Eileen