Poetry after Auschwitz
July 20, 2019
'Poetry is pointless – like kicking a stone’
- overheard at a poetry reading
At the start and the end of this long, straight road:
a silent child, a house in flames,
a leafless tree, an empty town
He kicks a stone to watch it leap
and skitter on the flattened clay,
then slow and stall and go to ground
Along the forest edge stand those
he's failed to save: he sings his song;
his unknown patrons hear no sound
and yet he feels their silence deep
beneath his feet, and sees beyond
the tree, the child, the house, the town
Published in the Kent & Sussex Folio, 2019
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Phil Vernon 
Hi Phil
Your beautiful Auschwitz poem struck a chord. Spent the last two weeks traveling through the beautiful Bavarian countryside, with detours to Bertesgaden, Dachau, and the Jewish museum in Munich. Prompted lots of reflection on origins of fascism in those times and in our times and what they might have in common. Fintan O’Toole’s recent article in the Irish Times suggests we are in a pre-fascist phase of trial runs of what the real experience will be like. Testing our resolve and our nerve. I find myself reading Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr for solace and wisdom.
Best
Ray
On Sat, Jul 20, 2019 at 4:58 PM Phil Vernon’s blog wrote:
> Phil Vernon posted: ” ‘Poetry is pointless – like kicking a stone’ – > overheard at a poetry reading At the start and the end of this long, > straight road: a silent child, a house in flames, a leafless tree, an empty > town He kicks a stone to watch it leap and skitter on” >
I sincerely hope o’toole is wrong, but ….
I just read this to a friend. She is still gape mouthed.
There’s a saving/not saving theme going on today! Are we all kicking stones anyway?
C’est bien possible