Reap the Harvest

 


Emptiness.  Unfilled shelves and barren

cupboards stared back at me.  The win-

dows had been smashed in when they

couldn't get through the door.  Shards of

glass littered the muddy carpet.  Not a

trace of food was left and every precious

bottle of water taken; the tap hadn't work-

ed for months so we were left with literally

nothing. They even took my mother's

insulin.

 

The baby was crying, eager for the milk

that they had stolen.  At least they hadn't

harmed the small children, or the elders. 

My husband's arm was broken when he

resisted, but all in all our injuries were light. 

They could have killed us all.  And then

burned the house to the ground.  It's hap-

pened before.  However, they knew we would

get more provisions and that they could re-

turn at their own convenience.

 

Of course they raped me and my teenage

daughters, but they didn't kidnap one of

them.  Probably they were unwilling to share

their loot with captives.  Very prudent on their

part, I thought emptily.  They were a roving

gang of mostly young men and women, mar-

auding from town to town, one household to

the next, as if they were reaping a harvest:  of

food, money, medicine, anything they needed,

anything they wanted.  Then they left.

 

Next, I prayed aloud.  I asked God that none

of the women would become pregnant from the

assaults.  And that the children would overcome

the shock that the bewildering attack had caus-

ed them.  Had caused all of us.  And finally, I

prayed that for a change, the crops would grow

this year; that John could find work; that the

drought and the plague would be over and that

the wildfires and the war would end.  I prayed till

I was hoarse and had run out of breath.

 

It was a lot to ask for, a tall order, but after

all, what other recourse did we have?  The

government had been dysfunctional for

years and now distributed food and medicine

only twice a month.  Yes, I decided, if I were

a gambler, I'd have to bet not on politicians or

police or the warm heart of a stranger, but on

a higher power, so-called.

 

We had to wait three days before a doctor could

set John's arm.  We got more milk for the baby

but once again all our clothes hung a little looser

on us.  The new year is just four days away.  It'll

soon be 2028 and I truly believe that it will be a

better year all around.  It must be.  After all, it is

an election year.
 

 

 

 

Adah and Me

 

I was wakened by the touch

of Adah's small hand on my

shoulder. She whispered,

"Miriam, the rockets are

falling again."

 

I sat up, to find the stone walls

shuddering, wondering how I had

slept through the bombardment.

One can perhaps get used to

anything, I suppose.

 

The Israelis told us to go

south, but my grandmother

couldn't walk and we couldn't

find anyone to help us, so

we stayed with her. Last

week, Jida was killed in a

missile strike, so Adah and

I are alone now.

 

I don't know where the

rest of my family is. My

parents and my two

brothers. There's just

Adah, six years old, and

me. I'm thirteen -- just

today!

 

It's amazing how you

can forget what's

ordinarily so important

to you. There won't be

a party.

 

There's little clean water

and almost no food. The

nahibs have taken

everything. I don't

understand; they are

Palestinians like us -- but

not like us, I suppose.

 

I want to take Adah and

go back home. But, there

is no home remaining.

Just the rubble.

 

 

 

 

I Held My Breath

 

 

We had been crowded into a low-ceilinged

room the size of a small church.   Cement

walls and floor.   The soldiers had confis-

cated all our clothes, our shoes, what jewel-

ry and personal effects that had remained

with us.  Most of it had long ago been

bartered away for food or clean water or

other privileges scarce in the compound.

 

We were completely naked:  the men, the

women, even the little children.  Our heads

had been shaved.  Rumor had it that the

Huns stuffed their pillows and mattresses

with our hair.

 

The room was entirely vacant but for the

human bodies; our pale white flesh was the

color of a fish’s belly, and we were stuffed

into the room like oysters into a turkey.

 

We had all been shipped to the death

camp--Todeslager--like cattle to the

slaughter, in box cars, with no food or

water.  With scarcely enough room

to breathe.  Once or twice a plane flying

overhead had strafed the train with

machinegun fire.  Perhaps our own

brave pilots.

 

There were no youths or middle aged men

and women; they had all been absorbed into

the vast slave labor network the Huns oper-

ated.  Only the crippled, the maimed, the

feeble and the old, like myself, were here,

save for the very young, who weren’t hardy

enough for slave labor.

 

We were in Treblinka.  It was June, 1943

and the rumor was that the camp would

be closed soon.  We had no room to lay or

sit or even turn around.  We were like the

kippers that were packed in oil or mustard

and that the inmates in labor camps--the

Arbeitslager--got from the Red Cross.  At

Treblinka we never received our kippers.

There were nothing but rumors flying

throughout the compound:  I had heard it

said that the German women made lamp

shades with our skin.

 

Some of the old men stared up at an aperture

in the ceiling, about a foot and a half over our

heads.  That, they said, was where the Ger-

mans would deposit the Zyklon B, the poison

they would gas us with.  The Commandant,

addressing the prisoners some time ago, had

bragged that superior German industry had

created many wonderful things.  This was per-

haps the example he had in mind when he

said that.  He had seemed very proud.

 

One of the younger of the men had been a

helper, removing the bodies from the chamber

after the gas had dissipated.  After everyone

was dead.  He told us all about how it worked. 

The poison--prussic acid--he said, worked fast. 

There would be a rattling over our heads, in the

chute that the poison was fed into.  Someone,

he said with a grotesque grin, always tried to

keep the pellet from descending.  But fall it

always did.  For his labors he had received

an extra crust of Brot.

 

We waited.  And waited.  Suddenly there was a

clattering overhead, in the chute.  The pellet of

Zyklon B was descending.  A tall man, as if act-

ing a part in a movie, attempted to prevent the

pellet from falling, where it would crack open and

then dissipate in a cloud of murderous vapor. 

His hand slipped.  Suddenly, a large white pellet

crashed to the floor, burst open and a deadly,

diaphanous cloud rose up.  A woman cried out.

The lethal “showers” had begun.  I held my

breath.

War is hell. We all know that. We are living in a time where, with social media, television and the internet, we cannot ignore the thousands of people suffering in many parts of the world; people fleeing from their country’s enemy, explosions occurring daily, houses and infrastructure destroyed, famine, families separated, outright chaos and an unimaginable degree of civilian death.

This historical fiction novel, SALT to the SEA by Ruta Sepetys, takes us back to 1945 World War II Germany, in East Prussia; to a time and scenario where thousands of civilians are subject to immediate evacuation or be killed. The scenario depicted in 1945 Prussia is equal to a page out of current day (2024) news in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Haiti as well as in other parts of the world, people desperate to escape war zones.

For me, the underlying themes of this novel were wrapped around: hope, trust, instinct and the strength of strangers in a group who bond together to face a “life or death” crisis. Each of the main and secondary characters in this book has a unique perspective based on his/her cultural background, nationality and personal experiences before and during the war. 

The ages of the characters in this story range from 6 years old to 70+ years old. The small group meet for the first time when holed up in a cabin in the German forest in the middle of a snowy winter; most of them traveling alone, starved, hoping to get to a coastal port, and then board a ship to take them to safety. The hope for each of them is to somehow eventually make it back to their respective family in their home country, and not be murdered by Russians or Germans along the road. At first, the small group agree to stick together. They set out from the cabin in the woods on the treacherous journey, determined to reach the Baltic port of Gotenhafen, hoping to board the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a cruise ship re-purposed by the German military to evacuate the thousands of displaced citizens.

The characters crafted by Ruta Sepetys are both colorful and complicated. And this is what I love most about this book. Characters include: an old man the group refers to as the ‘Shoemaker Poet,’ (the sage of the group), a pretty 21-year-old Lithuanian nurse (Joana), a 6-year-old lost boy (Klaus), a blind teenage German refugee (Ingrid), a 19-year-old museum apprentice from Prussia (Florian), a sometimes abrasive woman from Norway (Eva) and a 15-year-old Polish girl likely targeted for elimination by Nazis. Their collective mission is to reach the East Prussian port uninjured and ‘alive.’ 
Of course, there is internal conflict for several of the characters, as well as disagreements between group members. This heightens the tension as we move along in the story. For me, an author myself, I feel that there is no doubt that a story without conflict can lack believability and authenticity. Ruta Sepetys is a master at showing readers both internal and external conflicts without going overboard or appearing contrived. 

There is another key character in the story, a young German soldier named Alfred (Frick) who is not traveling with this small group of evacuees. Alfred has low self-esteem and also a passionate dedication to Adolf Hitler. Greatly flawed, Alfred is determined to prove to his family back home in Heidelberg and to the girl he loves and writes letters to, that he is becoming a hero in the German army, and is critical to the success of the massive evacuation. He is situated on the ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff, and in reality, assigned to menial tasks.

There are secrets about each of the key characters which are artfully revealed one by one by Sepetys. This writing technique kept me riveted as reader. SALT to the SEA is a book that I couldn’t put down, just a 2-day read for me. There were times when I thought I couldn’t take any more of the horror embedded in these pages but I cared so greatly for many of the characters and was anxious find out their next steps and see how they would navigate the scary obstacles and challenges anticipated.

The scene at the East Prussian port is chaotic; harrowing for each member of the small group, a few of them pretending they are alternative nationalities, so they would successfully be granted permission to board. It’s ‘touch and go’ for everyone at the port, and the tension the author creates is sizzling.

Readers may know ahead of picking up this book, that the ship, the “Wilhelm Gustloff” was in fact, ill-fated, and resulted in a much more catastrophic disaster than the well-known ‘Titanic,’ in terms of numbers of human casualties. The ship was, as mentioned earlier in this review, originally designed as a cruise ship. It was built to hold a maximum of 1400 souls. Yet, the German military loaded the ship with nearly 10,000 evacuees.

I won’t say more. The nuggets I shared here in this review in terms of plot and characters are often included in many previews of this well-written book.

Although this story is heart-wrenching, there are some bright lights all the way through, including plenty of romance, friendship and inspiring family scenarios. My belief is that readers will be fully invested in finding out who, in this unlikely group, endure the journey and who unfortunately fail to make it. I believe that the ending to SALT to the SEA, although painful, will leave readers hopeful and inspired. 
Reading historical fiction has been a great portal for me to continue to learn about the world that ‘was’ before I was born. But it also helps me see more clearly the repeated and disastrous mistakes in judgment made by at least a handful of selfish leaders across our planet.

Thank you Ruta Sepetys for your incredible story.




 

Moon of All Shining Desire
 
Moon of all shining desire 
Rapture laden sweetness of orgy and fire 
Suspended in brightness tipped Earthward, 
A path through the night 
Unraveling the stillness 
Achingly holding the light. 
Radiant your pathway – 
Enchanted and new 
Tangled with stardust and spangled with dew 
Reflecting the light of the cosmos 
In the shimmering stars on your gown. 
Moonlit hours are fleeting... 
And in dreams your light I recall 
Delicate and wispy like a dress 
Worn to a debutante's ball. 
Drape this silhouette once more 
In your soft silver light 
With Earth's music playing waltzes 
Some magical night 
Dance my moon-tipsy shadow, lightly 
Around the deserted ballroom floor 
Then out through the open 
French door 
Whirl me in breathless ecstasy 
Onto the terrace of night. 


GOING HOME
 
Going home is an echoing tune 
Whistled down the sunbeams 
In the corridors of the wind. 
Going home is climbing the cherry tree 
Of the mind 
With the golden legs of yesterday. 
It's roaming mentally 
Through the windless places 
Where tragedy was bubble gum hair 
Or a B-B through a window. 
Now I stare at my reflection 
In that long-ago wounded window – 
Did I see the young girl shadow pass 
Over the woman in the glass; 
Did she reach out and touch my face; 
Or was that the wind upon my cheek? 


I HAVE WALKED THE MORN IN MISTS

I have walked the morn in mists
And trodden down the valley lily white
And run the gantlet sunshine fair
Robed in silken webs no woman ever wove,
Shod in sandals light - 
Airy, as death is weightless
And left youth and gaiety high and dry
At the entrance gate of responsibility
And entered therein
To lie face down, child of marble, wayward
On the dew-drenched lawn of forever,
Crying tears of stone 
To the unveiling of a statue, ageless.
I have reached reverently out to touch 
The alabaster agony of space without time
To carve the precious light of existence, sweet 
With flawless line, chisel
The wrinkles of age and time away
Layer by layer to the stone's heart,
Newborn, in beauty glowing, translucent 
With hands of steel, a sculptress
Kneeling to whisper, "It is good." 


Annie Johnson is 84 years old. She is Shawnee Native American. She has published two, six hundred-page novels and six books of poetry. Annie has won several poetry awards from world poetry organizations including; World Union of Poets; she is a member of World Nations Writers Union; has received the World Institute for Peace award; the World Laureate of Literature from World Nations Writers Union and The William Shakespeare Poetry Award. She received a Certificate and Medal in recognition of the highest literature from International Literary Union for the year 2020, from Ayad Al Baldawi, President of the International Literary Union. She has three children, two grandchildren, and two sons-in-law. Annie played a flute in the Butler University Symphony. She still plays her flute.

One Two

One, Two
Daddy caught a flu
Three, Four
Mommy locked the door
Five, Six
Doggie learnt new tricks
Seven, Eight
My dinner's late
Nine, Ten
Nappy change again
One, Two
Now, what shall I do?
Three, Four
Want to pee some more
Five, Six
Burps and farts do mix
Seven, Eight
Biscuits I ate
Nine, Ten
Nappy change again
One, Two
My fingers I chew
Three, Four
I crawled on the floor
Five, Six
Bathtub, Granny fix
Seven, Eight
My milk, I wait
Nine, Ten
Nappy change again
One, Two
Daddy caught a flu
Three, Four
Seven days and more ...
Bottom of Form


Time and Art

Time is but the ropes in ring of life we play. 
Art is the skill we use as we heroically play.
Win or defeated within time, we stay.
Leaving our trophies, soon our valiant corpses lay. 
May our skills provide the next players a way. 
In them, our value, others may gratefully say. 
We are all blessed the time our first cry that day.



Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa was born January 14, 1965, in Manila Philippines. She has worked as a retired Language Instructor, interpreter, caregiver, secretary, product promotion employee, and private therapeutic masseur. Her works have been published as poems and short story anthologies in several language translations for e-magazines, monthly magazines, and books; poems for cause anthologies in a Zimbabwean newspaper; a feature article in a Philippine newspaper; and had her works posted on different poetry web and blog sites. She has been writing poems since childhood but started on Facebook only in 2014. For her, Poetry is life and life is poetry. 

Lilian Kunimasa considers herself a student/teacher with the duty to learn, inspire, guide, and motivate others to contribute to changing what is seen as normal into a better world than when she steps into it. She has always considered life as an endless journey, searching for new goals, and challenges and how she can in small ways make a difference in every path she takes. She sees humanity as one family where each one must support the other and considers poets as a voice for Truth in pursuit of Equality and proper Stewardship of nature despite the hindrances of distorted information and traditions.

LOVE IN SILENCE
 
The invented alphabet of our flights, 
I will paint your image in sepia
Our kisses will imagine, the written word
Hearts that will beat in unison
You will be in the vortex of time... 
You will be welcome love in silence
Let me pass, there's a gap in hope
Your voice and my voice will make a furrow in the night, 
with the whisper of the wind
The larks will sing among the lilacs, 
in a hidden language
I will be reborn in the immense breath of your laughter, 
And in the love that burns, I will walk life.
 
 


GRACIELA NOEMI VILLAVERDE is a writer and poet from Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios) Argentina. Based in Buenos Aires, she graduated in letters and is the author of seven books of poetry, awarded several times worldwide. She works as the World Manager of Educational and Social Projects of the Hispanic World Union of Writers. She's also the UHE World Honorary President of the same institution Activa de la Sade, Argentine Society of Writers and a Commissioner of Honor in the executive cabinet IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS DIVISION, of the UNACCC SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA CHAPTER.

What Leans against the Grass

Yet the green sleeps in the grass
The sweetness in the eyes over the beauty of the flowers
The sweet melody in the tune of the birds’ song
Yet the current blows on the rivers sounds much to run
Love plays between nature’s every set up for each other to grow
Yet my heart stops, blear eyes scratch in moving 
In so hot weather without an umbrella
Umbrella, under which I can save myself 
From the scorching heat of the sun
But who can save the children, the women, 
After all the people of Palestine
From the hit of bombs, firing or hunger?
How can I proceed, energy fails to step on
Standing before the naked humanity of the world.

Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh,
29 March, 2024.

Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos Magazine for seven years.