My Wife and Children Are Starving
Hershele Danielovitch
My poor wife and children are starving
neighbors look askance and gasp
when one wants to lighten my life—
I must shun him out of shame…
Naked as Adam and barefoot
ragged and torn—-
I drag myself over the ruins
not to think, not to know….
Worn out by worry
Without strength, sick and broken—
I wander, wiped out without home
Long lost is my hope…
Chewed up by fate
dejected by burdens—
I go about a forgotten one
cannot bear these troubles…
Someone knows of joy and light,
of peace and hope,
but for me only black emptiness remains
for me only the grave is open…