An Iris for Etty

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” 
                           —Hamlet, 4.5

The suddenness took you by surprise, not 
that you didn’t know the day would come when, 
forced to board an eastbound train, you would join 
the many already immolated, 
mere smoke and ash under gray Polish skies.

You had, after all, refused to escape, 
remained resolute as you witnessed 
your people’s collective catastrophe 
and—taking full measure of their despair— 
became the thinking heart of the barracks.