Part1

Bubble-bathed and smelling sweet
He climbs the stairs to bed.
Pyjamas pressed and neatly striped,
Jim smiles with nodding head. 

Cookie-crumbed, he slips inside
A feather-filled cocoon.
His bedspread glowing golden
Lit by the mellow moon.

A picture book is open
His father reads in rhyme,
Softly punctuated by
The hall clock’s bell-like chime.

Soft-spoken words and lullabies,
How soon they take tired boys
On journeys into Dreamland -
That place of bears and toys.

Part 2

Young Erich, small, just twelve years old
Is also dressed in blue.
PJs striped, his uniform -
It marks him as a Jew!

Roughly sawn, three slatted planks,
Are nailed to form a bed
Where greedy blood-addicted lice,
Torment his shaven head.

Weary tread, he makes his way
To the room that rings of screams
Where hissing gas will tell the tale
That sends him to his dreams.

No bedtime tale for Erich
Just scrawls upon the wall
‘Pray God, at liberation
Our names you will recall’