“To Rafael, Lovingly” a Poem
By Amy Silberberg (Rafael’s late daughter-in-law)
Some crack like raw eggs under the weight of evil,
Their pasts oozing from the fissures,
Leaving cool and sticky pools of themselves behind.
Some become fragile and sicken,
Waiting forever to heal,
Not trusting.
Never touching or feeling again.
Some go wild with pain,
Hurting and hating others reflexively.
Some ingest the sympathy of others and chew the cud of injustice.
Some do not remember, or so they say,
Although they must.
What are we to do with them?
They are not here.
They are not anywhere.
But not you
My elder/father/friend.
You let the evil course over your soul like water on rock.
It shaped you, but the essential you remains.
You have chosen,
And somehow you rise to serve as teacher/teller/survivor of evil.