Shoes on the Danube Promenade – A Memorial

Plum-coloured velvet curtains.

Soot over slate mansard roofs.
Budapest newsreel film —1945.

Soviet soldiers toss phosphorous bombs.
Glowing orange and blue in darkness.

Facing the river, my house:

Chestnut trees line the street.
Wooden fence, barbed wire ghetto.

The day we opened the windows
looking out on the street:

Jacob’s father

was marched to the river
and shot into the icy waters.

A pair of unlaced shoes left behind.

Photo Credit

Shoes on the Danube Promenade in Budapest – Wikipedia – Creative Commons

First published in Ilona Martonfi’s second poetry book, Black Grass (Broken Rules Press, 2012).
Poets against the war USA online publication.

Guest Author Bio

Ilona Martonfi
Ilona Martonfi Author of two poetry books, Blue Poppy, (Coracle Press, 2009.) Black Grass, (Broken Rules Press 2012). Published in Vallum, Accenti, The Fiddlehead, Serai. Founder/producer of The Yellow Door and Visual Arts Centre Readings, co-founder of Lovers and Others. QWF 2010 Community Award.