Daisies

With all the rain
they grew to nearly
six feet this year
as if in protest,
as if stretching
to be plucked
to be placed
in barrels of uzis
or in shafts
of rocket launchers.

Far from the fighting,
I snipped them
at their lanky peak,
a handful of tiny suns
radiating light,
and it felt violent
as usual
the beheading
in the garden bed
but more so this time.

I brought them
into captivity
against their will
to brighten my room
when I knew
they had had
bigger plans.

.

Hero
in memory of Jan Karski, who tried to persuade Western powers to                                                                      
stop the Holocaust while it was still happening

It is possible
to be a human
to see and remember.

It is possible to jump
off a moving train and not perish
along with your knowledge.

It is possible to be captured
and beaten within an inch of your life
and reveal nothing.

It is possible to escape
with the help of others
who do not survive.

It is possible to reveal
the horrors and opportunities
and no one will believe you.

It is possible to try to forget
but forgetting is not possible
and that is a good thing.

Award-winning author of seven books of poetry, Michael Favala Goldman (b.1966) is also a jazz clarinetist and translator of seventeen books of Danish literature. His work has appeared in dozens of publications including The New Yorker, Rattle, and The Harvard Review. He lives in Northampton, MA, where he has been running bi-monthly poetry critique groups since 2018. https://michaelfavalagoldman.com/