When My Grandmother Stood Up to the SS

Maybe her teeth were still on edge

from last night’s air raid or maybe

her children’s cries of hunger had unhinged her

but when the SS officers pounded on the door

she explained in plain German that she would not display

the required-by-law photograph of der Führer

anywhere on the property she was forced to occupy.

They could have arrested her on the spot

dragged her away from her four feeble children

but they backed down, still insisting,

lowering their chins like boys caught tormenting a cat,

ready to flee from whatever had hurt

this olive-skinned hausfrau into near-suicidal defiance.

They left the picture leaning against the fence,

tilted like a tombstone. Soon the summer grass crept

around the frame and the rain melted

der Führer’s mustache where it spilled

onto the head of the blonde child

offering him a bouquet of flowers.

Erica Goss served as Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, CA from 2013-2016. She is the author of Wild Place (Finishing Line Press, 2012) and Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets (PushPen Press, 2014). Erica teaches poetry workshops and works as a Development Director for California Poets in the Schools. Her poems, reviews, and articles appear widely. Please visit her at: www.ericagoss.com.