The Jews Ghettos | Teen Ink

The Jews Ghettos

February 15, 2013
By BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”


Children weep;
adults can’t earn their keep.
Some are foodless;
some are waterless.
Swallowed jewels.
The only water is murky pools.
Hitler’s men,
towering over like Big Ben.
Rebels killed;
their blood is spilled.
A slice of bread.
An aching head.
Seven people to a place.
Your time is running out just like a race.
The run down ghettos;
the deadly ghettos;
the Jews ghettos.


The author's comments:
I wrote this many years ago as I was studying Nazi Germany in history and covering it in R.E. as well.

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This article has 16 comments.


on Jul. 30 2013 at 5:45 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

I had the sudden stop so it symbolised and emthasised their own "sudden stops" and to try and make more of an impact, but I do see where you are coming from.
Thanks for the feedback :)

on Jul. 30 2013 at 5:38 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

I understand where you are coming from as it does seem very random, but for historians such as myself who has studied Nazi Germany know that the Jews were left without possession and sold on for the Nazi's own gain, so to hold onto what they could some took the drastic step of swallowing some things such as small jewels. Unfortunately I couldn't explain that within the poem haha.
Thanks for the feedback :)  
 

on Jul. 30 2013 at 10:03 am
SwanSong SILVER, Millville, New Jersey
9 articles 0 photos 54 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

I love the flow and rhyming of this, the only think I don't like is that I feel like the last line is kind of a let down. Not in the words, but in fitting in with the rest of the rhythm. When read out loud, the fact that the previous two lines have five sylables and the last only has four makes it sound incomplete. I think this has the potential to be a very powerful poem. Perhaps change it tot "the Jewish ghettos?" Other than that nice work!

on Jul. 29 2013 at 8:37 pm
Carpe-Caffeam GOLD, No Where, Florida
10 articles 0 photos 444 comments

Favorite Quote:
“If it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” –David Letterman

I think you did an excellent job! My only criticism is that "swallowed jewels" seems out-of-place, and I'm not quite sure what you meant by it. Otherwise, keep up the good work! :D

on Jul. 29 2013 at 1:18 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

Thanks for the comment :D

on Jul. 29 2013 at 12:27 pm
vegetariangirl, Hamilton, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 92 comments

Favorite Quote:
Being normal is boring - Marilyn Monroe
You only live once -?
A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit -Richard Bach

You did a great job on this poem!!!! I love it!!!! The ryhme was good and so was the rhythm.

on Jul. 28 2013 at 11:35 am
SwanSong SILVER, Millville, New Jersey
9 articles 0 photos 54 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

This flows nicely, except for the last line. Therre is such a build up as the poem progresses and the last line just lets it all out intstead of leaving it with the reader. It's not the wording, it's the number of syllables. Both previous lines have five, and having four in the last line leaves you hanging. At first glance, it looks like it should be really powerful and the rest of the poem is, but maybe "Jewish" instead of "Jews" would create the rhthym needed for the powerful ending this poem has the potential for.

on Jul. 4 2013 at 8:45 pm
WriteOrWrong BRONZE, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 105 comments

Favorite Quote:
Sometimes you just need to take a nap and get over it. -Maura Stuard

Oh sorry merky was autocorrected. I thought murky was misspelt. Haha I just meant it had good rhythm.

on Jul. 4 2013 at 12:13 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

No, I definitley meant murky pools, because of the dirty pools of water on the ground. Hahaa, urm, ok.... well I'm glad you enjoyed it >.<
and yeah, I see what you mean, I might have to work on that, because I never really felt that it worked, other than relating to the Berlin Olympics at that time.
Thanks for your comment :D

on Jul. 3 2013 at 7:41 pm
WriteOrWrong BRONZE, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 105 comments

Favorite Quote:
Sometimes you just need to take a nap and get over it. -Maura Stuard

Did you mean merely instead of murky? I really liked the feel of the porm. I found myself kind of rappin it in my head haha. It using such an emotional and historical subject was quite interesting in poem form. The only thing that I wasn't crazy about was 'your time is running out just like a race.' I don't think that i line fits with the rest of the poem. Also I feel that more descriptive words could be used in front of the three ghettos. Nice job.

on Jun. 16 2013 at 8:47 am
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

As an earlier piece the grammar is not as fine tuned as it is now, but thanks for pointing that out, I'll try and alter it in my copy. Thanks for the comment and your opinions :)

on Jun. 15 2013 at 11:29 pm
WrenArrington, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
0 articles 0 photos 74 comments
I found it interesting that you chose to put something historical into poem form. The words were simple but that made them all the more powerful, since most readers will already be pretty well acquainted with the conditions of the concentration camps. Again, be careful with semicolons.

on Jun. 11 2013 at 5:33 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

Yes, you were over thinking haha, but personally I've never seen that as a bad thing. Thanks for the comment, and yes I was going for a simple piece at the time, not only because I was a novice writer at the time (3/4 years ago), but to also showcase how simple the situation was (they were sent their to die; no way around it), and to highlight the descriptions of their situation better so the impact stood out.

on Jun. 9 2013 at 11:31 pm
LexusMarie PLATINUM, Las Cruces, New Mexico
27 articles 0 photos 423 comments

Favorite Quote:
The more control you have over yourself, the less control others have over you.

Hey there, James! I really enjoyed this. I always choose poems with interesting titles, and this one was very interesting, I thought it'd be a great read.. I was correct. It is always important when writing poetry (and other things of course) to put an appealing title. I thought this was brilliant. I liked the simplicity of the poem.. it really let the reader just take in what they were reading. And this is about something highly serious so it's important to not take away from the subject by adding crazy words/long choppy lines/etc. I thought the descriptions were great! Now, maybe I am looking into this too much, but I like how in the beginning the lines were short then in the middle they were longer and by the end they were short again.. I kind of looked at it as in the beginning you were describing Jews and the Jews were belittled at the time so the lines were short and then in the middle you discussed Hitler, hence the longer lines, he feels bigger than everyone else. And then in the end you talk about the deadly ghettos and the fact that Jews had to live there where again the lines are short. Interesting! Great job!

on Jun. 2 2013 at 3:58 pm
BlackbeltJames GOLD, Reading, Other
14 articles 0 photos 193 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaac Asimov - "Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.”

I totally agree; this was a very early piece I had written, so I may go back to it and re-write it with the similar theme and context, but making structurly better and with better imagery.

Hanban12 ELITE said...
on Jun. 1 2013 at 10:00 pm
Hanban12 ELITE, Lake Worth, Florida
133 articles 7 photos 631 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
Henry David Thoreau

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, and then all at once."
John Green

Very interesting! Its an extremely emotional topic to write about, and I think you captured it well. The only recommendation would be to add a little more imagery so the picture given is more vivid. Other than that, this was an amazing poem, and I hope you write more like it :) Keep it up!