I Will Promise You This | Teen Ink

I Will Promise You This

January 22, 2014
By cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb


Your grievances were not for naught, my friend
I will promise you this.
When your words became whispers,
Silenced while their brandings blistered,
And the truth, it festered
Under the lies and sickness of a bastard,
And this bastard, he stole,
Your country,
Your home,
Your heart,
But not your soul,
Only every stone you ever owned,
Please show me,
In your beautiful writings,
All that he left you:
Your soul and its sufferings.

Write, of your pain
Please, write it for me
I want to hear, not to sneer
But to feel what you feared.


The author's comments:
When reading selections in English class by authors who wrote of their strife living in Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII, specifically "Ten Songs" by W.H. Auden, I was compelled to write this poem. The raw power of human suffering, encapsulated in those selections, shook me to my core, and I could not help but find myself wishing to grant these writers some sort of pledge, or assurance, that their words will be remembered, that their pain and suffering was, well, "not for naught".

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This article has 12 comments.


on Feb. 12 2014 at 4:52 pm
JoyMason PLATINUM, Arapahoe, Nebraska
25 articles 0 photos 51 comments

Favorite Quote:
You, he who subdued me, be not insolent, forget not the beauty of virtue.

i like this one, it has excellent rhythm and tempo ^w^

on Feb. 1 2014 at 5:46 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Thank you so much for checking it out!! :D

on Feb. 1 2014 at 9:03 am
BabyBean BRONZE, Kaysville, Utah
2 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
It's hard to get out of the barrel. It's slippery around the edges and people are happy to see you fall back in. -RDJ

Wow, super good! Really modivates me when I have writers block, haha. Thanks for sharing!

on Jan. 31 2014 at 8:05 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Thank you!! :)

amk7997 BRONZE said...
on Jan. 31 2014 at 4:28 pm
amk7997 BRONZE, Congers, New York
2 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be the change you want to see in the world"-Mahatma Gandhi

I love how this poem just flows from one idea to another and it's so inspiring

on Jan. 30 2014 at 4:09 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Thank you so much, that's so nice of you to say! You too; I've been looking at a lot of your work, and it's so emotionally charged and powerful - I love it. Thanks again :)

on Jan. 30 2014 at 12:55 pm
loveisntreal GOLD, Arcata, California
19 articles 0 photos 51 comments

Favorite Quote:
"you live what you've learned." -linkin park

oh my god...you are soo good! :)) i love it so much. i am really inspired by you. have a great day and keep writing forever!

on Jan. 29 2014 at 9:52 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Thank you so much!! :) Haha, that's funny you decided to look at my poem and find out we live so close to eachother! SpOoky 0_o lol

on Jan. 29 2014 at 9:47 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Oh, and I forgot to add one more thing... "And Yet The Books" by Czeslaw Milosz is a beautiful poem that runs on the same thread as this. If you search it on Google you can find it. I think you might like it. :)  

on Jan. 29 2014 at 9:41 pm
cecchmate BRONZE, Menlo Park, California
3 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
-Greek proverb

Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story with me, and for all your nice words. It must be really amazing being able to talk to someone close to you who witnessed all of the events of that era firsthand. It is incredible to me the magnitude of suffering that had to happen because of pure prejudice and evil during that time, and how the suffering still happens today, in different forms and through different means, even for the long-after generations of those who went through it who hear the stories and empathize with their family members. I think of all of the pain and fear that people like your great-grandfather and his father have had to go through, and I feel like exactly what you said, one of the worst parts is that along with the Nazis taking their lives, which is horrible enough, they also destroyed that last bit of them we could have had left, their conciousness down on paper, their writings; all of their remaining contributions to the world, gone. But the beautiful part is that they still live on, like right now, through people talking and listening and passing on their stories. I absolutely don't mind you sharing my poem with your great-grandfather, and thank you so much for everything you wrote! It means so much to me to know that someone can relate to something I've written; it makes the whole process so much sweeter. Thank you again :)

on Jan. 28 2014 at 6:59 pm
bluewallflower BRONZE, Santa Fe, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living."-Anais Nin

This has literally become one of I'm favorite poems. I'm not just saying that. This is really good. My great grandfather and his family were Russina Jews living in Poland during WW 2 and nearly his entire family died at the Dachau concentration camp. He and his older sister were the only survivors. He's like 95 now. So I can, in a way, relate to this poem.  My great grandfather's father was a writer and professor at a university in Warsaw but he was eventually fired because he was Jewish and shot by Nazi sympathizers before he could be sent to a camp. According to my great grandfather, when they were sent away, the Nazis went through the house and burnt all of their furniture and books, his father's writings included. It's sad to think that no one will ever read them. I'll have to show my great grandfather this poem.If you don't mind that is...Other than all of that, it's wonderfully written. Everything flows together so perfectly! Thank you!

on Jan. 28 2014 at 4:56 pm
Shahrier PLATINUM, Colma, California
28 articles 10 photos 110 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I'm a river that no longer flows" - a friend
"when the people lead, leaders follow" - Gandhi

that was beautiful and i also like how well that flows. also, i think its really nice how you "tell" the people who suffered that it was not nothing. it was very well written, and i dont have anything negative to say. also, kinda off topic, i notice you live in menlo park. i live near Daly City ^_^ (probably will never befriend you nor we will ever meet face to face, but i thought that its kinda cool