Beneath the microscope

We can observe

How cancerous cells migrate

Or bacteria proliferate

Within the blood.

What of this man

Behind his cage of glass

As the hours pass

And all his deeds return.

Is he as free from blame

As a tumour in the brain

Or a bacterial growth

Upon the vital valves

Around the heart?

Is he not everywhere,

In every street,

In every church,

Standing by the door

Collecting for the poor.

The man who always does

Exactly as he is told.

The man with a tidy mind

And hatred of his kind,

Because they will not do

What the Bible or the Fuhrer

Says they should?

Evil is everywhere,

Not only in the dead air

Where the dust falls,

Dust that was once human flesh,

Reduced to ashes.

Human hair and human blood

Trampled in the winter mud,

While no one dared

Cry out in anger

Or in bitter shame.

We keep our wrath

For lesser prey,

For little boys who steal

And run away,

Plucking our apples

In the afternoon.

Long after we have forgotten

The millions who have died,

We shall continue to make sure

That evil will endure,

As we stand by the church door

Collecting for the poor

With a supercilious smile

And hatred in our heart.

Each in his cage of glass

As our deeds pass,

Forgotten and unknown;

Like dust in the still air.

June 1961