The Prison Door

I met a man who showed me his past through a book

His words came alive retelling his story of WWII

Nazi Germany Holocaust

Bombs, soldiers and concentration camps

I saw through his eyes

a young boy running from gunfire and hiding out to survive

I saw a German prison door open

inside

only Jewish people

Suddenly, I remembered what I had seen

while visiting a US prison

I saw the Missouri State Penitentiary door open

inside

only Black women

I was horrified

I remembered I felt powerless

thinking there was nothing I could do to change the system

So, I did what I could to help

Then I went on with my life with its own trials and tribulations

and eventually I forgot what I had witnessed

Until that day

over fifteen years later

I was reminded

At that moment I asked myself —

What if I was alive during the Nazi Occupation

would I see what was really happening?

The bombings of other countries for dominance

uniformed with gun violence rounding people up

prisons and workhouses full of people condemned for

color religion disabilities poverty heritage profits

Those being oppressed, persecuted, and put to death

Would I turn a blind eye and continue to live a normal life?

Or would I stand up and say something

or go as far as to fight against the injustices

and possibly lose my own freedom or even my life

Who could I have been in the WWII Nazi Germany years?

Who could I have been in the United States all these years?

Who could I be right now?

*Poem from Heirs of November