The Train Station
In silence
We walk toward the tracks
A brief memorial tribute at the train station
We hear the words of victims
Songs are offered like prayers
What a goodly thing
If the children of the world
Could dwell together
In peace
The words are more poignant
More painful
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Bluebirds Fly
As we gaze at the tracks
Airless cattle cars
Packed
Eighty to one-hundred per car
Delicate wildflowers spring up from the parched earth
Did they see them
Pale violet and yellow
A final glimpse of something still beautiful in the world
Before the doors slammed shut
Sealing their fate
50,000 Greek Jews of Saloniki
Sent to their deaths
There are no words
We walk away from the tracks
In silence
Nancy Aloi is a retired superintendent of Bethel Park School District.