Poetry Inspired by the Polish Boy with his Arms Up Photograph

Here are a few of my favorites from this activity:

To the Little Boy
by Oleg
Child, your courage and heroic deed gave me a sense of hope
Your face shines like the sun in its full glory.
The evil men, they stand apart and oppress the helpless,
    forgetting that death reigns over their souls and they rejoice and laugh as though they have control of the innocent.
We are a nation of people who have lived through oppression over the ages of great and mighty civilization.
Little boy, do not fret, for it is you who lives and the cowards who die.

To the Little Girl: "See the Light"
by Sarah
Dear child, do not be afraid
The bloodied hands may grasp and claw at you
But do not let them destroy your heart

Dear child, do not be afraid
For a light so pure and true
Rains down upon you with each step you take

Dear child, do not be afraid
For innocent blood seeps from your scars
Not point, nor tar

Dear child, do not be afraid
Though you feel alone
You will always have the light to guide you

Dear child, do not be afraid
For your heart can still sing, still beat
You are not a broken bird yet

Dear child, do not be afraid
After the terror is over, after you've taken your last breath
You will see the light.

Finally you will see the light.

Just Another Day
by Holly
Another day of sweat
sliding down my skin
palms caked with mud or ash
(I can't tell the difference anymore)
stomach gnawing at my mind

There is yelling and gunshots
(my midnight lullabies)
and a boy with a pale face
battered bloody knees
rattling bones
that can be heard a mile away

My head is turned in his direction
and fear speaks for me
as my hands stiffen in the air

Today is only another day
of false hopes buried beneath us
of innocent children frozen in fear
of the flash of a life take before me
And I can do
nothing
but watch.

Poem
by Savannah
I would like to say something
to you, Nazi soldier
How could you do this?
Pointing that gun
at an innocent child
a frightened old man
a lonely woman
How could you do this?
are you doing this by force
or do you enjoy seeing the fear on the faces
of the innocent child
the frightened old man
and the lonely woman
How could you do this?
Can you sleep at night
Knowing of what you've done
Supporting persecution
of people who you claim to be subhuman
How can you let this happen
You're disgusting.

Only a Child
by Dan
Why would you take any more?
The hunger took his father
and the sorrow took his mother
Left him in my arms for me to carry
It's not that he's a burden,
no. I have food to share.
Why would you take any more?

he's only a child
he's only a child
why would you take his only possession?
he's only a child
he hasn't grown
he's too young to understand.

Maybe it's best you take him
anywhere is better than here.

To the Nazi Soldier
by Kylee
Do you see the little boy?
with his arms raised,
small and scared.
Do you see his mother?
Helpless, bitter, and fearful.
Do you remember being a little boy?
What made you into this?
Why? Why would you become a murderer?
The cause of a little boy's fear.
The reason a mother feels helpless.
If only that little boy had a gun.
Would you then feel scared and helpless?

Heartless Man
by Madison
To the heartless so called "man.
How could you stand there and feel no shame
Your face shows no emotion or signs of remorse
You are clearly the "man" to blame.

To the heartless so called "man"
You stand there with steady hands
And pride-filled eyes
You are clearly the "man" to blame.

To the heartless so called "man"
I hope you remember that sorrow-filled day
Haunts you and is there to stay
You are clearly the "man" to blame.

To the Little Jewish Boy
by Olivia
Little Jewish boy, stand strong.
You are courageous.
You are brave.
You are admirable.
Do not fear the Nazi soldier with his gun held high.
He is a coward.
Do not listen to the horror in the voices around you.
They don't realize.
They don't realize that when the bullets pierce your skin
                                    when they slam into your heart
                                                                     your brain
                                                                     your lungs
You will have done what they all have longed to do.
You will have escaped.
You will be gone forever from the place of blackness
                                                 the place of hunger
                                                 the place of screams.
You will enter a field with flowers.
                        your bedroom with your teddy bear
                        a fluffy cloud above the world.
Your own personal heaven.
Little Jewish boy, stand strong.
Where you're going is better than where you stand now.

It was There
by Sierra
It was there.
There I stood motionless and small.
There I stood staring into the eyes of death.
Was I afraid? Yes I must say that I
knew that I would stand there only
temporarily. Never will I have to stand
there again staring at the face of death.
It was there.
There I waited for courage to arrive.
There I looked into deep dark eyes.
There I surrendered but my heart did not.
There I was gazing into the eyes of hate.
It was there.
There I asked the question why do they hate me?
There I thought it will all be over soon.
And it was there where my final thoughts and breath were.
There in the ghetto in the spot where the trigger was pulled.
It was there.

From the Little Boy
by Melissa
I Raise my hands
In celebration of a new wonder in my life
I Raise my hands
to beckon my father to hoist me into his arms and hold me tight.
I Raise my hands
to reach, to stretch as closely as possible
to something just out of my fingertips
Happiness
Safety
Compassion
Hope
Yet I do not
I do not have the choice
I Raise my hands high
because I am told to
because my back is threatened by my death
So I Raise my hands,
higher than ever before.
Because that is my only option.

The Little Boy
by Grant
My sides exposed,
my knees naked.
The Polish morning tightens my fingers,
Heat from my underarms
Steals the lost warmth through the hole in my shoe.

The gun steams, released the soul it
just tore from the earth

I cannot be scared
my mother was strong.

I want to end this,
to kill them all,
then we would be free.

But my rock is a billion miles away, in my pocket,
and he will shoot me
before I can reach it.

The Dark-Haired Woman
by Kelsey
You could have been my child,
yes, you surely could have,
I knew your mother,
but I don't know her now.
I don't know you,
I was glad you weren't my child,
I wanted to protect my daughter,
and you were there,
Shielding her,
I was glad,
I hate myself,
I hate myself for being glad,
you could have been my child.

The Little Boy
by Justin
I stand with hands up,
hat on, wearing my Star of David.
What have I done?
Why am I here?
Have I done something wrong?
I stand with hands up,
hat on, wearing my Star of David.
People watching.
Guns pointing.
No one does anything.
What have I done?
Why are guns pointing at me?
Why won't anyone do anything?
I stand with hands up,
hat on, wearing my Star of David.
Waiting.
Just waiting for something to happen.
Waiting for help.
What have I done?
Why will no one help?
Why will no one help?
I stand with hands up,
hat on, wearing my Star of David.
In need of help.
In need of the help that no one will give.
What have I done?
Why does everyone hate me?
How hard is it to help?
I stand with hands up,
hat on, wearing my Star of David.
I
Need
Help.
We all
Need
Help.
The help that no one will give.