Homeland

Lois E. Olena

It was Christmas eve
and there was no room in the inn,
the Oswiecim inn,
so the Arrow Cross
took the children,
barefooted
and in their nighties,
out to the Danube
and filled their little bellies
not with bread
but bullets
flipping them
like tiddlywinks
into the congealing, icy river below.

It was the Red Danube
that night,
choking on the blood
of orphan Jews
whose little Blue faces
floated downstream
touring even all of Europe
until they washed up
on the shores of Eretz Yisrael (Jewish homeland)
and came back to life,
their little blue and white
bodies
raised high,
flapping in the wind.
How is imagery used in this poem? Imagery is used in this poem by describing how the children are killed and how they are taken down to the river and made it red. this is very descriptive
 
Discuss the effect of the simile in this poem. The simile is "and filled their little bellies not with bread but bullets" it compares filling them with food and bullets. it has an effect on the reader that of shock because they are doing the exact opposite of what people do to children
 
How is alliteration used in the poem? What is the effect? Again bread and bullets is used but this time in alliteration, It helps make the line more memorable and gives the effect that Lois E. Olena intended which is sad and evil
 
How does the author juxtapose the innocence of the children to the cruelty they experienced? Lois uses juxtaposition by comparing the Jewish children to tiddlywinks, which are things that are used as a game that people toss around, and in the poem that's what the Germans are doing to the Jewish children
 
What is meant by 'touring all of Europe'? It means that the bodies are floating down the rivers of Europe