I looked in his eyes and it was his soul that I saw,
Looking right back at me he smiled once more,
Had I not been able to hold my emotions at bay,
Our lips would have met with nothing to say,
Instead as I gazed on the brightness within,
I held to the belief that to lie is a sin,
And the words that I had been searching for,
Tumbles from my mouth like waves on a shore.
The calmness of my voice broke over his heart,
And he replied after a slower start,
Until both of us clung to every word said,
Here was love's expression beyond the bed.
A tear formed and he wiped it from my eye,
I paused briefly lest the moment go by,
With still the belief that here was romance,
We held each other as if in an intimate dance.
Love plays its own symphony if you can hear,
Love fills your senses and brings good cheer,
Love makes you give for nothing in return,
Love finds solace when you no longer yearn.
Of course I am Jewish and proud to be me,
But I struggle every day to stay free,
I search my own depths and find a gaping hole,
Where once my heart had been is now a wary soul.
I am suspicious of all and friends with none,
But here stands my one chance to say I won,
To conquer my heart and fear in one leap,
And discover a love that could heal or cut deep.
The risk is of little consequence to me now,
I am caught up in the hope I may live somehow,
To let someone else make me feel safe and secure,
And change my life from being cruel and unsure.
She waits for another contact to make themselves known,
Her hair is long and fine now and she has lost a stone,
None would recognise her from the woman she used to be,
Another round of make believe to remain alive and free.
She checks her lips and powders her tired and weary face,
Then gazes out the window to watch them pass this place,
It seems like the world has forgotten how to smile, KO
Lately even kindness is slowly slipping out of style.
She lights a cigarette and decides to pay the bill,
Then catches sight of someone as they saunter down the hill,
His hair the same and his eyes still as blue and clear,
But she's thrown into confusion as he should not be here.
Watching him as he passes by in his uniform so proud,
She senses her vulnerability now standing out from the crowd,
Her feelings say run after him it's the best thing she can do,
But her mind holds her back as he's German and she's a Jew.
They may have been friends once but time has been cruel,
She hadn't got this far by playing the sentimental fool,
Telling herself to wait and to follow him first,
She paid the barman and looked to quench curiosity's thirst.
He almost lost her more than once or twice she thought,
Yet she remained unseen for she had much to lose if caught,
Just another Dutch girl since arriving in the city,
She had managed to get forged papers from a man in pity.
Yet the price had been high and she had hated the cost,
But since that time there were many other things she lost,
Amongst them were family and friends and her pride,
Those who did not adjust either escaped or they died.
And as she watched her old friend she wanted to trust him,
But that was an emotion within her now grown dim,
The light that burned with hope had all but gone out,
Leaving her faith shaken and her judgement in doubt.
The rain was cold but she could see through the fall,
He emerged from a doorway hidden in an ivy wall,
And as he left she crept across and entered in,
Cautiously wary of what might be found within.
The secret storeroom harbours a sleeping sick man,
And she knelt by his side and her crying began,
For here lay her countryman and childhood friend,
So at last reunited again her heart might mend.
She soothed his brow and tended his fever,
Stayed with him and was determined he wouldn't leave her,
Awaited the third but was unsure of what she would say,
Her fear and loathing was dissolving here this very day.
And the paint peeled on the walls like her own hopes,
Three idealistic fools surely they were merely naive dopes,
To think that they can survive the hell of this war,
And still feel the same despite all they saw.
Yet as she pondered this she warmed to her find,
Her two old friends now filled her busy mind,
And she thought of past love and good times,
Didn't dwell on inhumanity and heinous crimes,
She fell asleep with her head upon his chest,
Feeling security in the rise and fall as she rest,
And that is how the other found his two loves,
Pressed together as surely as two turtledoves.