millions of screaming
ghosts beg for your
attention to their
names long forgotten,
to their lives lived out long ago, in
misery and rejection
for years, just because of
a small difference
in belief and looks

blonde, blue eyes, and
fair skin make for the
ideal person in the
eyes of those not perfect themselves
adding to the perfection
is the rejection of a
religion long held in
a petty grudge

in this world where
anything less than perfection
is isolated, imprisoned,
and kept from the view
of the “perfect” society
the emaciated taboo
are allowed
to leak slowly
out of the thoughts of others
unaffected by the horror of the truth

while in the process of being forgotten
long days and
even longer nights
were suffered, backbreaking
work for hours every day
without any breaks
for food or rest

but night becomes worse
than the day from
the never ending blaze
pouring out from the chimneys
made all the more visible
by the darkness that slowly suffocates
any hope that is left

and in the morning
when the light allows a
little hope to bloom again
it is soon smothered out
by the grey cloud of
ashes
fluttering down delicately
to cover everything in sight

a reminder of those gone in the night