Homeland
Lois E. Olena
It was Christmas eve
and there was no room in the inn,
the Oswiecim inn,
so the Arrow Cross
took the children,
barefooted
and in their nighties,
out to the Danube
and filled their little bellies
not with bread
but bullets
flipping them
like tiddlywinks
into the congealing, icy river below.
It was the Red Danube
that night,
choking on the blood
of orphan Jews
whose little Blue faces
floated downstream
touring even all of Europe
until they washed up
on the shores of Eretz Yisrael (Jewish homeland)
and came back to life,
their little blue and white
bodies
raised high,
flapping in the wind.
- How is imagery used in this poem?
The imagery shows the horror that both sides had to put u with. It is gruesome imagery.
- Discuss the effect of the simile in this poem.
Flipping them like tiddly winks is the simile used and is gruesome as well, saying that the were flicked away without care.
- How is alliteration used in the poem? What is the effect?
'not with bread, but bullets' is the use of alliteration in the poem. This adds to the horror effect and is a more sickening way to say the were killed.
- How does the author juxtapose the innocence of the children to the cruelty they experienced?
The use of alliteration is also a use of juxtaposition. The contrast of bread and bullets is huge and bread was what was needed but they were shot instead.
- What is meant by 'touring all of Europe'? The bodies passed through all countries, including Germany, and the horror was spread.
