For my Grandfather
by Reebs Downey

When I feel a cool breeze graze my skin, and play gently with my hair I think.
When I look at the blue sky, with birds flying high, I know.
These are the things we share.
Your eyes have seen these things and your skin felt this same breeze.
I am standing free.
You were in chains, with the weight of hatred scarring your body.
I am standing free.
You ate the food of nightmares, and still carry the effects.
I am standing free.
You felt the blow of hatred, and fascism.
I am standing free.
You watched as your friends fell, the victims of terrible horrors.
I am standing free.
You spent weeks in black misery with only your heartbeat to remind you that you were alive.
I am standing free.
Your eyes are forever scarred, the image of murder imprinted on the inside of your eyelids.
I am standing free.
It is these things we share, the blue of the sky, the same color over Germany.
A cool breeze, so free and unconfined, the same in a prison camp.
I am standing free.
Thank you.