A Dictator’s Shadow

Boots tromp in the streets beneath the shadow
Of one leader’s distorted dream,
Arms outstretch, voices join, eyes aglow,
As morals pull apart at the seams.

Soldiers stuff both man and child alike
Into lingering metal railway cars,
Beneath a dictator’s watchful eye,
Jews are trampled under Aryan claws.

Skeletal corpses litter the land,
Staining earth with a crimson current,
While others toil under a cruel hand,
As bodies in brick ovens are burnt.

Survivors rise from the ashes of war,
Hands joined and hearts unwavering,
They make a pact, their souls outpour,
To not forget such vast suffering.

16 lines

ABAB rhyme scheme, traditional form