No Mercy Left
No Mercy Left
To forget the dead
a Pole with eyeglasses
playing his life
my Polish comrade
“Have mercy!”
a beautiful sound
in such silence
a cynical smile in a pale face
unfulfilled hopes, charred past, extinguished future
never forget Juliek
“You’re crushing me.”
playing his life
a Pole with eyeglasses
he was not dead
a fragment of a Beethoven concerto
an audience of the dead and dying
“Are you all right, Juliek?”
to hear his voice
to know his answer
“You’re crushing me.”
my Polish comrade
ceased to suffer
he would never play again
“Have mercy!”
his soul had become his bow
“I’m afraid….
eyeglasses
faint voice
pale face
They’ll break my violin.”
tired
feet are swollen
I awoke
“Are you all right, Juliek?”
“Have mercy!”
my Polish comrade
bidding farewell
facing me, hunched over
a silent death
his violin trampled
an eerily poignant little corpse
“Have mercy!”
would be akin to killing them a second time.