Polish Woman, 1943?

She runs, naked,
through an unnamed Polish town,
her hair and makeup
surprisingly intact, stylish.
Her face exemplifies terror.

She runs, naked.
Someone’s life was risked
to take this photograph.
Life-sized, black and white,
hanging in London’s Imperial War Museum.
I am rooted in front of it for a long time.

She runs, naked.
I can’t move.
Which part of me
is most mesmerized?
The Polish part,
the Jewish part,
the female part,
the human part?

I’m guessing that shortly after
the shutter snapped,
she was killed --
naked, as she ran.
Unless, as cats will
sometimes do
with cornered prey,
they decided to
play with her first.

Susan Wolbarst’s work has been published in “The Ledge Poetry and Fiction Magazine,” “Naugatuck River Review,” “Poetry Now,” “Yolo Crow,” "Valley Voices," "Eat This Poem Anthology," "The Christian Science Monitor" and other newspapers and magazines. She also self-published one cookbook. She enjoys hiking, anything involving small boats or trains, and cooking the world's offerings in her three cast iron pans.

© 2020