By:  Milt Montague

I carry a stone in my pocket
a reminder
of an unbelievable atrocity
perpetrated upon the world
by a handful of men
led by one maniac

who systematically
tortured and murdered six million people only because
they were Jewish

then attempted to conquer the rest of our planet

this stone from my cousin Mark’s grave
a survivor of the death camps
in World War ll
who came here

started a new life
raised a family
was successful in business
despite his scars

lived until 90
a reminder we
can never again ignore
lunatics murdering their own people

or their neighbors
it happened in the past
we must not let it happen again
Mark’s stone is a persistent reminder
to constantly be on the alert for terrorism
we must put out the fire before it consumes us all