I Couldn't Visit Dachau 

by Imogen Arate

When I was in Munich

I couldn't bring myself 

To visit Dachau

Already exhausted 

I feared I would collapse 

Into unmendable parts

Under the emotional encounter 

I avoided all the camps 

It was an appreciated privilege 

Instead

I talked with gentle

Older German ladies

Who took me 

Off my itinerary 

Some to their home towns 

Rebuilt post war

Through broken English 

Some told me of their

Sons who lived in kibbutz 

To atone for a generation's sins

Others told me about the firebombing 

Of now reconstructed quaint towns

Of the lake of fire 

That swallowed the unlucky

Moments after losing grip

Of their firmly believed cause

Thought to assure victory

Sympathy for one's enemy 

Ideology attached to human faces

Also a symptom of privilege 

Much like that of 

The luxury of having

The time to feel

Instead of the necessity 

Of self numbing for survival 

Yet my enemy is the conflict 

That cheapens life

That rationalizes cruelty 

As long as I hate their philosophy 

That demands I weigh suffering 

To measure their worth in empathy 

I ask for better of myself 

Though I'm unsure

If I'd be a hero or coward

In the times they had lived in 

Or even the era I now live in

* * * * *

"I Couldn't Visit Dachau" is also read and discussed on Poets and Muses 2/2/20, https://soundcloud.com/poetsandmuses/imogen-arate-with-beate-sigriddaughter

Imogen Arate is a US-based Poet and the Executive Producer and Host of Poets and Muses (https://poetsandmuses.com/), a weekly poetry podcast where she chats with poets about their inspirations. She has written in verse since her tween years, in four languages and published in two (English and French). While Imogen has always utilized poetry as a vehicle for self expression, she has also found it to be an effective therapeutic tool in coping with a recent trauma.