NELLY SACHS
(born DEC. 10,1891)

Who knew, Nelly Sachs
while growing up
in a white apron
by honey cakes
or in a garden
of apple trees
or by a doll house
with tiny furniture
or later even the glamour
of a child acting out Wagner's
musical operatic dramas
upon a musical stage
with a fantasy company
in a Kultur of Berlin
that you would share
a singular grief of your time
that was fermenting
as a war crime
both personal and universal
in a lament of poetry
shuddering with mine.