HOPE AND DESPAIR

       It is a difficult thing to do, to read the news, watch the news, hear the vitriol of the past return to today. What one thought, prayed for, that hatred of the other would finally meet its well deserved death - well, that has not happened. Instead, what we have is a poisonous return, all over Europe, Asia, and even here inAmerica. Never did I think that at gatherings of friends we would talk of the need, of the possibility, that we might have to leave or have we left it too late already. Even more frightening is the question of where would we go?
     Yet there is hope. Our younger generation is watching and thinking, very carefully. They are well aware of life and the vicious turns it can take and make. Below is an entry in a nationwide contest of high school students, an entry which won third prize - quite an accomplishment. I recognize much of what is within the piece, for I know the stories of ancestors we have spoken of, the stories and experiences of others and it has made an impression. These kids today are the adults of tomorrow nd we will entrust the world to them.
      Our generation has not done such a good job at caretaking, have we, but we hope and pray tha this next generation is more aware, more concerned, more determined to leave the world in a better state than the one they inherited. Despair, yes, but also hope. Hear the voice of my granddaughter and her generation.

          Some Things Never Change
I put on my glasses with Holocaust viewing lenses
I see my great-great grandmother taking care of her house
Making beds, sweeping floors, washing dishes
She was a homemaker.
I see my great-great grandfather working with diamonds
Cutting them, shaping them, selling them,
He was a merchant.
The Nazis invaded 
1939
I see my great great grandparents running, hiding,
Trying to escape,
From Poland, to Antwerp, to France
To Rivsaltes
To Auschwitz
I see them being put into the gas chambers,
breathing, choking, dying
I take off my glasses for it's too much for my eyes to handle
I see antisemitism
Shooting, screaming, blood
Did I even take off my glasses?
I see them sitting next to me, I feel them with my hand
They were off
What was I seeing then?
The past? the present? the future?
It was the present; reality
Tree of Life
Sirens
Death
I guess not much has changed since 1945.