"When the Walls Went Up" by Lily Morris

Poetry: When the Walls Went Up, by Lily Morris

When the Walls Went Up

Lily Morris

When the walls went up

We were torn down

I am a Jew

I want to be proud

But how can I be

When my identity brings

locked gates

narrow streets

insults

violence

illness

filth

my yellow badge feels heavy

it screams to the world

Jew

Every day, it seems

They preach to us

We killed Jesus they say

We kill their babies they say

We must convert they say

We could be saved they say

--If they want to save us so badly

then why don’t they do it

The darkness never goes away

The sunlight never creeps in

but there are times when my eyes adjust-

like the holidays

at least we are not slaves in Egypt

we tell ourselves

I used to have a window

in my home

before the ghetto

I would wave to my neighbors

they’d smile back

now

the view outside the windows

are more walls

dead ends.