Majdanek Poem

Frank Miller visited the Majdanek death camp in 1987. The images and sensations have haunted him ever since. In February 2009, Frank submitted this recently written poem as an attempt to capture his failure to comprehend the cruelty and heartlessness of his fellow man.

Majdanek 1 by Frank Miller

I have walked the straight lines
Every turn a right angle
Precise
Each turn leading to the next
The next much worse than the last
Shadows of the dead confront me
Accuse and reduce me
Silenced

Step by step
Tear on tear
Splashing on the stone before my feet
Heart shaped
Shaped for my heart
For my tear
Falling so splendid upon
The stone
Like my heart

The man, like me, a man
Who watched,
Turned on the gas
And watched.
The task complete
Returning to rest and comfort
And leaving behind
The Verdi Gris walls
The silent reproach

A tear on a stone
To remind me
Green on the walls to remind us
A man, like me, a man
With the images
In his head
To remind him
No rest for him or me
The stone holds our tears even now

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