A compilation of half a century's poetic meditation on the holocaust and its causes and consequences.

Contentsfrom The Swastika Poems (1977)A Snapshot of My Father, 1928For Wilhelm HeyenFor Hermann HeyenMen in HistoryRiddlePassover: The InjectionsI Dream of JusticeThe TrenchDarknessErikaThe Baron's TourBlueThe Liberation FilmsThe SpireA Visit to BelzecOn an Archaic Torso of Apollo (after Rilke)The NuminousThe Uncertainty PrincipleSimple TruthsThe Swastika Poemsfrom Erika (1984)StoriesThree RelationsA New BibleNocturne: The Reichsführer at StutthofThe CarThe Hair: Jacob Korman's StoryThe Funnel: Speech to Jews at Treblinka by Kurt FranzDark in the Reich of the BlondKotovThe TrainsTo the Onlookers (after Sachs)The LegacyThe Angel HourMandorla (after Celan)Death Fugue (after Celan)Poem Touching the GestapoMy Holocaust SongsThe VaporThe HaloThe ChildrenThis Nightfrom Falling from Heaven (1991)Children's Poem: This VillageThe DeadThe Lice Boy of BelsenSonnet & Haiku: Forms from the Reich UniversityScripture: Himmler on Mercilessness"Canada"The AppleCoinThe SecretThe PowerThe Candlefrom Ribbons: The Gulf War (1991) 2. (The Reich) 3. (Wings) 5. (The Indian Wars) 9. (Sorties)13. (Conventions)20. (Aktion)23. (Home)24. (The Frog)29. (Gifts)35. (The Heart)38. (The Truth)39. (The Job)40. (Storm Coda)41. (Epilogue)from The Angel Voices: A Poem (1997-98 / 2010)from Shoah Train (2003)PrayerThe AnnunciationChimney, 1950Dedication, 1939RoofFugue for KristallnachtBloodhoundPleurisyThe GiftGhosts"Christmas Celebration of SS Guards at Neungamme"Euthanasia EconomySchnappsMilk SilhouetteTestimonies, 1946PresenceParityVoiceAlmondPerpetratorChildAuschwitz Reich Disfigured Haiku SequenceThe BearStones: The Efficacy of PoetryAfflictionArdorMoleElegyRevelation: Theresienstadt StoryThe BerriesStar SongShoah TrainThe Presence of AbsenceCandyIDOn an Injunction by Theodor AdornoBreadThe HeadVisitors: Last PoemBarrow SunriseCatbirdfrom A Poetics of Hiroshima (2008)HistoryIt Came to PassThen: Ghost Story, 1944The Pearl MuseumMuseum Visitor CodaSleepersLullabyDr. HeimPoetryThe WordAnthemExerciseHistoryIllumination GraftIfSunlightAutumn Rain, 1946Iwo DahliaThe Streetcar: August 6, 1945A Poetics of HiroshimaShoah Train: Spring CodaSoapRoseFledglingBlueberries AlbumThe CarriagesThe KillersThe LightHiroshima Suite (2012)The Candle: New PoemsButterfly1939: The MedalBlutzeugtag: Blood Oath DayFlameTestimony of Christa SchröderThe MurdererInterrogationCivilizationReminderSailing to DanzigOtto Pressburger, 18, at Birkenau, 1942LugerDeterminationKatyn, 1941: The GermansSportEyesAvraham Tory: Diary from the Kovno GhettoShekhinahDefinition for the New BibleBayer Co. to the Auschwitz AuthoritiesThe Arrival Sonnet: Dagmar OstermannPrayerPrayerAbsenceNight ParableSoundVolcano: Testimony of Albert HartlHitler StreetOf CovenantAxeGypsiesExile DiptychNihilism CrematoriumSonnet Ending in Trite RhymeBeautyThe Maggots SpeakPoemThe CandleKurt M. Regarding the ShofarVoller ZugDandelions: The SurvivorMeditationInsanityAngelLifeArtNotesAcknowledgmentsA Note on the Author