My mind cannot fathom

the depravity

of all that occurred in

Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The casual brutality.

The lies.

So I can understand the urge 

to deny it happened.

It is so hard

to accept 

the breadth and depth 

of the chilling glacier of facts.

We can only then agree

with Auschwitz survivor 

Primo Levi: 

‘It happened 

Therefore it can happen again’

What can we learn?

If we are to prevent 

this from happening again 

there is no ‘us and them’,

only us.

We are human together 

and we are all

less

if we do not all

accept and live

this truth.

Thus we are forced into

vigilance 

to call out

the uncomfortable realities 

around us

that can grow

in the dark

if they are not examined 

in the light.

I must quickly let go

of annoyance

and not react to

perceived slights.

Fidelity to living 

these powerful lessons

in humanity 

every day

is insistent.

That I am a person of peace

of acceptance

of love

every moment 

so I can focus

on living

in the light.

The atrocities were

against life.

I can respond by living,

by embracing life

in every facet

and cheering on

those around me

whose love, compassion

and humanity

make the world 

more like what it should be.