In fading pictures
Jews wait for trains.
Many are well dressed,
carry briefcases, suitcases,
baggage.
They don’t know where they are going.
You can see the confusion,
the dawning terror on their faces.
Meanwhile the “good” Germans go about their business.
Today Palestinians flee as before
to somewhere else in Gaza,
fleeing bombs and terror,
with suitcases, furniture, bedding, more
baggage
piled onto trucks or shoulders.
They know where they are going
but not what awaits them when they get there.
You can see the uncertainty,
the exhaustion on their faces.
Refugees
climb into rickety boats
with nothing, carrying
only the baggage in their eyes
of past lives, loves, memories.
They flee war and climate devastation,
you can see the fear
and desperation on their faces.
And you who look away,
scramble to live
life that passes for “normal,”
ignore the images on your phones and tv,
all the evidence of mounting carnage,
children buried
under piles of rubble,
washed up on shores
like so much garbage─
what about you,
what about your baggage?