In The Concentration Camp Called Home

In the concentration camp called Home

In the concentration camp called Home,

we report in striped pajamas

to the barefeet commandant,

Our Mother orchestrating

our daily holocaust.

Burrowing her finger-

-nails through my palms,

a scream frozen between us,

a stalactite of terror

in the green caves of her eyes

there, sentenced to forced labour:

to mine her veins of hatred

to shovel her contempt

to pile scorn upon scorn

beating(s) a path.

At noon, Our Mother

leads us to the chambers

naked, ripples of flesh

she turns on the gas

and watches our hunger

as her food devours us.

© Prof. Sam Vaknin, 1997–2026. Free, non-commercial reproduction permitted under CC BY-NC 4.0 with author credit and a link back to this site.