Trying to Change the Past
by Maureen Sherbondy
I tell them don’t go
into the showers,
but it’s too late.
My cousins take
the bait of promised
streams of clean relief.
Before entering, they strip
their ripped clothes,
stand pale and gaunt
inside the giant echoing
chamber. Wanting to warn
them, I scream, stamp feet,
even belt out my Torah
portion. Nothing works.
Gas haunts the room.
My cousins turn to me
with dark brown eyes
that match my own.
I offer my hand to them,
but their bodies fall away
before our fingers meet.
Maureen Sherbondy's forthcoming book is The Body Remembers. Her work has appeared in European Judaism, Calyx, Southern Humanities Review, and other journals. Maureen lives in Durham, NC.
