Sonia Wietz Poem

I chose the Black Messiah poem. I felt that the first 3 paragraphs expresses depression and shock, how the black G.I first saw the concentration camp and what was happening. The last 2 phrases symbolizes a small ray of hope through the darkness because it says 'to live, to hope, to smile... and yet we vow not ever to forget'. The Messiah (meaning savior), which was what the girl called the G.I in the beginning of the poem, is what I thought was a metaphor since she thought he would save them all from the camp and she made the connection. The part that really stood out for me was the phrase 'The shock, the horror on his face, he didn't weep, he didn't cry, But deep within his gentle eyes...a flood of devastating pain, his innocence forever slain.' because he was probably just an innocent soldier until he saw the horrible sight of what the Nazi's were doing at the concentration camps, the kids and adults there were starving to death and the shock of it all must have scarred him for life. If I were in his place, my reaction would have been more or less the same, probably even worse. As I think back, I don't really have anything to relate to this situation, I have not seen anything that has left me shocked and scarred me, or at least not anything I can remember. But for the phrase 'And on we went our separate ways, for many years without a trace' It reminded me of a good friend of mine I had when I was in 3rd grade who moved to Manila and up until now we've actually never conversed, which is exactly the same connection Sonia had with the American soldier.