Saturday 11 July 2020


FORGIVENESS

by Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard

            in memory of Eva Kor


Sagittarius A, that astronomers
describe as a gravitational monster
pulled in passing stars in its
cosmic dance. Yet some stars manage

to survive the gravitational dance
of a black hole. Like Eva Kor
who survived Auschwitz because
she and her sister were treated

as guinea pigs by Dr. Mengele
who carried out his medical experiments
to create an Aryan master race.
She responded to the horrors by preaching

the power of forgiveness, persuading
a former physician at Auschwitz
to sign a document acknowledging
the gas chamber. Afterwards, Eva

wrote him a letter expressing her belief
in forgiving tormentors, as a thank you
for his gesture, that lifted
her burden of pain. We don't need

houses of worship to feel close
to the Creator, or astronomers
to explain the human cosmos,
but to face evil, the lust for power,

a hatred for others, and to respond
with a luminous soul rising
above the gravitational dance
of dark and light.


* * * * *

Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard (http://www.margueritegbouvard.com/) is the author of ten poetry books, two of which have won awards, including the MassBook Award for Poetry. She has also written many non-fiction books on women's rights, social justice, grief, illness, and The Invisible Wounds of War: Coming Home from Iraq and Afghanistan. She is a former professor of Political Science and Poetry, a former Resident scholar at Women's Studies Research Center and Environmental Studies at Brandeis University.






1 comment:

  1. "...a luminous soul rising above the gravitational dance of dark and light."

    Sing it, sister!

    ReplyDelete