Poetry

CHILDHOOD MEMORY | FROM YESTERDAYS | GESTAPO | JEWISH BED | WHY NOW

JEWISH BED
by
Suzan Herben

    A Jewish bed historically
    Has been a divan or
    A platform with a portable frame
    A mat on the ground
    Or couple of quilts on the floor
    Not a proper bed at all.

    No burden to carry
    Easily destroyed
    The sleeping place
    Moved too often
    Could be anywhere at all.

    From a cot in a kitchen
    To the mattress on the floor
    Under a table during war
    Then to a space in a place
    Where no one belonged.

    Bunk beds stacked too high
    Cold beds with bugs
    Beds of hot ashes
    Beds shared with the dead
    Displaced lonely beds
    Offer no rest.

    January 10, 2001