Regen aus Heiterem Himmel / Rain from a Blue Sky*

Tell me, mother, who is the prettiest girl?

That was me, daughter, during the war.

And mother, tell me who are your friends?

The Helferinnen, who sent and received messages.  

Oh, mother, how could you, how could you be singing?

We sang constantly, our lungs charred and stinging.

Mother, what did you do when the officer wooed you?

I let him tipple me into the future (dear one, that’s you).

And what made these stains on your mouth and hands?

Blueberries, my daughter, wild, coated with ash.

My own mother, what did you do when you wanted to weep?

Daughter, look closer:  the bright sky wept for us.

And what did you do when the storm clouds came?

We laughed, and outran their heavenly strafe.

Mother, who made this place, so pleasant and safe?

They made it, whose hands bloom under black earth.

*For full image from the SS Auschwitz album (1944-1945), go here. For the New Voices Project, go here.