DIFFICULT WORK, 1944
Butcher at the slaughterhuose
fondled the muzzles of two calves,
See how lovely their eyes.
He loves the calves best,
how difficult his work.
But we need their tender flesh for veal.
Doctor at the camp entrance
patted the heads of two small children,
gazed at their eyes.
See how beautiful their features.
'Look!' he points to the smoking furnace chimney.
'There went your mummy and daddy!'
He loves the children best,
how difficult his work.
But we need them for medical experiment,
their bones for soap.
PICTURES FROM RAVENSBRÜCK
Mothers and Daughters of Ravensbrück!
You bore the standard for Womankind with every stripe
against your splendid miserable bodies.
Know, that not a slap nor blow went unnoticed by the eye of God's heart,
a heart so tender for Womankind.
Would that I could reach back in time and scoop you all, all into my
timeless embrace and kiss away your horrid wounds,
your wretched despair and humiliation, and your grief!
One has only to look at your emaciated, brutilized forms to ponder -
How great the evil which can set about reducing a woman to this!
Until one looks at the bestiality in the eyes and faces of your guards -
How still greater the evil which would reduce a woman to this!
(Parable out of the mid-1980s)
Two
monks traveling in company together came by a loaf of dry bread which
they divided between themselves. Not having eaten for days, it was a
welcome pittance. The first monk gave thanks profusely, while the
second uttered nothing, preparing enthusiastically to consume his
portion of the find. Familiar with the latter's insufferable bent toward
bypassing devotions, the conscientiously pious monk prayed all the more
fervently for both of them the customary table-grace.
While
thus engaged, eyes tightly drawn, jaw firmly set, with hands clasped in
emphatic rightousness, he could not have noticed the stranger passing
by. His incorrigably undisciplined brother, on the other hand, judging
the visitor's condition to look much worse for wear than either of
theirs, calmly and without hesitation or thought, gave his share of the
catch to the stranger, and this with a nod and finger to his lips, so as
not to distract his companion's devotions.
The
stranger disappeared quietly and grace continued uninterrupted. Since
this simple monk failed to mention the incident entirely, his companion
in the Order had to assume, as usual, that his holy brother had once
again thoughtlessly gone and devoured his half during the grace.
