Mauthausen, Austria

For the souls still wandering


Walking the hand carved
stone steps to the valley,
the rain soaked through my umbrella
and I couldn't escape the tears.


Concrete hard on my feet
white walls and snaking slender pipes
wiped clean of sin.
The pungent smell
of urine lingered.


I touched the thin buildings.
Cold and haunting
they pulled life from my fingertips.
A silent prayer stuck to my lips.


I haven't told anyone about this;
hope was just beyond the prickling
barbed wire.
The swaths of green fields
abounding one after another
on sweeping hillsides.