Poetry
For me the Holocaust started in 33 in a small village | Auschwitz

For me the Holocaust started in 33 in a
small village.
by Lyn Lifshin

I was in a class
and the teacher said I
hear we have a Jew
pig in the class
I shook he said I'm
going to show this
Jew pig how much
pain a Jew can survive
he took a stick out
of the desk and
hit and hit I don't
remember the pain
she said but only
the kids who'd been
my friends once
laughing and laughing


Lyn Lyfshin's most recent books include The Marilyn Munroe Poems and Blue Tattoo.
A collected volume of her poetry, Cold Comfort, will be released in February 1997.