NOT ANONYMOUS by Ayala Zarfjian

Not Anonymous

by Ayala Zarfjian

I see your drawing on the wall

of block 27.

An empty baby carriage

for your doll.

The doll with the light brown hair

and hazel eyes.

Wearing a mustard yellow dress

with a navy blue collar.

What did you name her?

Rebecca or Gitty,

Shayna or Deborah.

I will never know.

I envision you before your life was taken.

In a lush garden, singing while you hopscotched

as you embraced your doll.

A vivacious child

with a beautiful name and

soft, delicate hands.

Your hair swayed when you jumped and ran,

your spirit full of light.

You are not anonymous.

Your life is remembered.

Your drawing displayed as testimony.

Your world ours.

Your pencil lines etched in our consciousness.

(This poem originally appeared in A Corner of the World: Holocaust Poems for My Father by Ayala Zarfjian, Golden Dragonfly Press, Second edition, August 2022. To obtain your own copy, click here.)

Ayala Zarfjian is an Israeli-born American poet. The author of A Corner in the World: Holocaust Poems for My Father (Golden Dragonfly Press, 2021) and Second Chances: Poetry of a Sun-Kissed Life, winner of The Next Generation Indie Book Award. Her poems have been anthologized in Chiaroscuro, Darkness and Light: Voices from poets - dVerse Anthology (2017) and Poetry as a Spiritual Practice: Illuminating the Awakened Woman (2016). Ayala is a mother, and a grandmother. When Ayala is not writing or designing jewelry, she loves to spend time with her children and grandchildren. Her other passions are traveling, deep-sea fishing, meditating, reading, and art. She resides with her family in Plantation, Florida, and blogs at A Sun Kissed Life.

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