Poetry written by Hania Kaczanowska
My father was held prisoner in Hersona ( Kherson) not far from the prisons which confined many Polish men during 1939-1940. Luckily he was sent to another part of “Stalin's paradise” and ended up getting the hell out of there with the Polish army.
In light of the Smolensk tragedy on April 10th 2010 where so many lives were silenced .......because they were making an attempt to personally witness the commemoration of KATYN....for the murder of Polish soldiers.
This is my poem for Remembering KATYN.
Remembering Katyn
I am happy to say that my poem is printed on the "Katyn Massacre" website http://www.katyn.org.au/kaczanowski.html
Amidst the trees in Katyn’s forest, gentle breezes blow,
With sounds of echoing whispers, of many years ago.
Branches reaching, entangled with bloody secrets of the past
As if to tell the passer-by that steps across their shadows cast,
“Braci do not forget about us when you speak of honor and war.
For we were all silenced and buried beneath this earthly floor.
Kozielsk, Starobielsk, and Ostaszkov sealed our road to death
And the bloody Katyn massacres stole from us our last breath.
The Bolshevik enemy slaughtered us, taking all our best,
Then laid us all together here for quiet, eternal rest.
Clad in Polish uniforms and our hands tied behind our backs
Our lifeless bodies fell atop each other in this cowardly attack.
And so we remain brothers in arms enchained until the end of time.
We died with honour and integrity and were guilty of no crime.
Only the spirits of this almighty forest and the triggered hand
Witnessed the brutality as we marched to our last command.
We were a threat to the cowards who silenced us with guns
But our legacy will survive through our daughters and our sons.
Our heavy hearts ached as we silently whispered goodbye
And hoped someday that our destiny would emerge from the twisted lie.
The soul of our nation was bled deeply into this ground
But surfaced three years later when finally we were found.
Out of bloodied pits of bodies our truth was finally set free
And the forest of Katyn holds the truth in every branch of every tree.
Braciszku pamietaj to tell the passer-by our spirit never died.
They took our lives but not our dignity nor our pride.
All the bullets in the east could not destroy our nations love
Our earthly march is over but we still hold our posts above.
As long as the forest grows our memory it will feed
And will always be a reminder of Bolshevik greed.
Katyn holds nothing of who we were nor our mortal souls
But will always be remembered for the Soviet’s murder of Poles.
2005
*****
Artwork by Hania Kaczanowska
click to enlarge image