Chelmno
December 8th, 1941
a date which will live in infamy
at the cutting edge of
technology exhaust pipes
look like dragon
nostrils
Malthusian killers cosplay
as physicians
stripping men, women, and
children together
while commandeering their
possessions
in the courtyard
of mendacity
one by one they
do the walk of
shame past signs declaring
“To the Washroom”
to the cellar
to a ramp
to the back
of a large, paneled truck
where one by one
terrorized human beings
pass through
confusion and
vomiting and
chest pain and
seizures
ultimately becoming
an adulterated corpse
©Vincent O’Connor. All rights reserved.
First published in the Poetry Super Highway 2022 Holocaust Remembrance Day Issue.
Photo by Paweł Schmidt.
