a little gray building issue 2 | Page 17

A little Gray Building

I am the Blokova

I wonder how long I have to stay here, in this hell

I hear curses being thrown at me every minute I live

I see pain writhing in everyone here

I want to follow a different path in life than this one

I am the Blokova

I pretend to be mean to the zugangi to keep my position

I feel cold and hungry

I touch the place where my fingers used to be and hold back my tears

I worry that I will die here

I cry when the children are chosen

I am the Blokova

I understand that this is my life now

I say that I will survive

I dream about my family all together again

I try to succeed so that I am not destroyed

I hope that the other prisoners will escape

I am the Blokova

*This poem is in response to The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, a book about the Holocaust.

I Am

Maia Ramirez | 5th Grade, Room 122

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