---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “Moving Forward” cc&d, v329 (the January 2023 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book a Mural of a Forest the cc&d Jan.-April 2023 magazine issues collection book		get the 426 page Jan.-April 2023 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Order this writing in the book On Stones and Bones the 2023 poetry & art collection anthology		get the 182 page poetry & artwork & photography collection anthology as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

The Pope and the Poster

Donna M. Davis

— Pope Pius XII did not speak out when the Nazis
rounded up and deported Rome’s Jews in 1943.

In Catholic school, the nun said,
“You must push your shoes
far under the bed before you go to sleep,
so you will be forced to kneel,
your legs bruised by the hard floor.
Then you will remember to pray
for the souls of Christian martyrs.”
In my childhood bedroom,
I recalled her admonition.
A nightlight beamed on a closet,
where Pope Pious XII glared at me
from an outsized color poster
my mother had tacked on the door.
He wore an encrusted silver cross
and a blood red cape.
Wire spectacles framed
stern, unsmiling eyes.
He was silent as ashes falling
from death camp chimneys,
frightening, with a fixed gaze
that saw but acknowledged nothing
while the Holocaust blazed.
I knew little about religion’s
hypocrisies and hidden sins.
Yet I placed my shoes
on the chair beside the bed,
and trembling did not kneel,
not then, not any other night.

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...