Grey Rain

• Ammar Mehlis, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2022

I recall where I first saw the grey rain. - Back where man showed his best and worst.
Foes could be friends and friends could be foes. - Man’s primal instinct could rob him of his dignity if he let it.
The mentally strong suffered physically. - The physically strong suffered mentally.
Under the grey rain.

I recall the fellow inmates who were assigned to be Kapos, - Driven by their greed and self-preservation,
they were often more brutal than guards. - Some fared better in camp than ever before.
One might murder their fellow inmate on a whim, - Men’s lives sold for good food and clothing.
Two birds were being killed without a stone, - Under the grey rain.

I also recall the Officers who rescued many of us, - Who hid us and protected us,
When they did not have a need to do so. - Few in number, but their being should suffice.
A shining example and testimony, - To the decent man,
Under the grey rain.

At the end, the only things an inmate had - Was his life and his dignity,
and the freedom to choose which he could sacrifice for the other.
No power on Earth can take away - The last of one’s freedom.
The freedom to transform a personal tragedy - Into a triumph and a human achievement.
Under the grey rain.