Poetry

Two Poems

By Judith Sherman

My Grandfather

A man who can peel
an apple with glee
undisturbed, unperturbed
graciously disrobing
peel from core
knows
how life
flows

 

Ravensbrück Apple-Eater

I once saw an apple
in Ravensbrück.
The apple-eater
with her black boots
a whip
and warm, warm coat—
but we the hungry
saw the apple
only.
What do You see, Lord?
Do you no longer
kick apple-eaters
out of Paradise?
—that Ravensbrück Paradise?
Explain, please.

Judith Sherman, a survivor of the Ravensbrück  concentration camp, is a retired family therapist, poet,  and author of the forthcoming book Say the Name:  A Survivor’s Tale in Prose and Poetry to be published by the University of New Mexico Press.

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