REMEMBERING ON HOLOCAUST DAY

How could I possibly make
     a mundane abstract
          when I read a quote this morning that said:
“If we held a moment of silence
     for every victim of the Holocaust,
          we would be silent
               for eleven and a half years”

I saw countless leaves on the ground this morning,
     but they cannot depict anywhere near
          the millions who were killed
               and I wonder if I would want to be silent
                    for that long?

These were not just nameless 
     and faceless people -
          they were someone's child, 
               someone's mother, father,
brother, sister, grandparent 
     so as well as remembering them,
          I would want to cry out,
"Please God, Never again!"

I am always moved by this performance of Prayer (from Jewish Life) by Ernest Bloch.

There is a live-streamed service from 7-8 p.m. this evening, then we are encouraged to light a candle and put it in our window at 8 o'clock, at the end of Holocaust Memorial Day 2022.