A census

by Yehiel E. Poupko in the June 17, 2020 issue

we count
we matter
counting us
by country
numbered
jew by jew
all pass
beneath their rod
not just Poland’s
million three
and some tens
or is that hundreds
of thousands more
jew by jew
Albania’s two
barely hundreds
jew by jew
they matter too
by two
our numbers
known
inscribed
reckoned
totaled
and final
to be sure
never
our names
never
our faces

This poem appears in the June 17, 2020 issue.

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