In memory of Janusz Korczak
What did the Old Doctor do
in a cattle car
riding to Treblinka on the 5th of August
over a few hours of blood flow
over the dirty river of time
I do not know
What did Charon the volunteer do
ferryman without an oar
did he give the children the remains
of his breath
and leave for himself
just the shiver in the bones
I do not know
Did he lie to them for instance
in small numbing
doses
picking from their sweaty heads
the skittish lice of fear
I do not know
but for that but later but there
in Treblinka
all their terror all the tears
were against him
oh it was only
so many minutes a whole life
is that a lot or a little
I was not there I don’ t know
suddenly the Old Doctor saw
the children become
old like him
older and older
they had to catch up to the grayness of ash
then when he was hit
by an Askar or SS man
they saw how the Doctor
became a child like them
smaller and smaller
until he was not born
since then together with the Old Doctor
there are plenty of them nowhere
I know
Translated from the Polish