No Longer in Hiding

Clack, clack, clack
down the track goes the train
We were in cattle cars,
nothing to eat or drink
But i was happy.
Not jubilantly so, but those fields
after so long refugees....
No longer in hiding.

Once we got to our destination,
we were stripped and given ragged, dirty clothes
our heads shaved
but we were outside
no longer in hiding.

Working us like dogs,
barely feeding us,
I was still happy
outside under the open skies
I made a friend, losing my other
We played together when we would
No longer in hiding

the soldiers always belittled us,
and yelled if we didn't work fast enough,
and sometimes we were beaten
the winter was cold, but I managed to
get a different set of warmer clothing.
How I wished they had not shaved my head!
But i relished the chill air
No longer in hiding.

In the nights, I wouldn't sleep a wink
my face lighting up every few seconds in
a harsh, cruel flame that came from
a building on the other side of the camp
I cried for those poor souls, lost in the smoke and haze
No longer in hiding....

Eventually, my sister and I were at the end of our line
Scabies, then Typhus
I kept going, trying to be optimistic
She died.
And I, knowing that she was safe in heaven,
soon followed
And now as i watch over the Earth,
I see people who are happy,
And I know that people are good.

You may ask, who am I?
I am known as a chatterbox
born and died a young girl
I am a Jew, who was sent to Bergen-Belsen
who always tried to look beyond the fence
I am your writer and storyteller,
Anne Frank
No longer in hiding.