The Importance of National Holocaust Day
The first step in healing ancestral trauma is remembering
For many years I was a Nuclear Cardiology Technologist. In simple terms, while the heart was stressed by exercise or medication I injected a radioactive tracer into a vein in a person’s arm. That allows a camera with a giant crystal to acquire images of the blood flow to that patient’s heart to rule out any potentially life-threatening blockage. It was an honor and a blessing meeting them over the course of a couple of decades. Some reside in my heart to this day.
The following story and poem were written many years ago. I used the pantoum form of poetry because it allowed me to speak in a more powerful voice than I usually use.
Recently one of my patients came in for routine testing. Mr. S has been coming in for these tests for over ten years. Each time he tells a joke and defers most questions to his wife of fifty-six years. In order to do the test, he had to roll up his sleeve. I’d seen his arm for the ten previous years, but that day something just touched my heart. Maybe because it was Martin Luther King’s birthday, maybe it’s just that time in my life, but I had to write how I felt.
Remembering Mr. S ~ I Saw Your Tattoo and Wept
As you reached for your grandson’s hand
No tiger, nor chain, nor heart nor lover’s name
one letter, four numbers, blue ink
As you reached for your grandson’s hand
Your sleeve slid up to reveal
one letter, four numbers, blue ink
indelible reminder of atrocities survived
Your sleeve slid up to reveal
a message of hate during an act of love
indelible reminder of atrocities survived
eclipsed for a moment by a gentle gesture.
A message of hate during an act of love
No tiger, nor chain, nor heart nor lover’s name
eclipsed for a moment by a gentle gesture
By the way, Mr. and Mrs. S, who also has a similar tattoo, I will remember you and will continue to remind people that genocide is happening again and again today.
Art has a voice and artists have many ways of speaking for those whose voices are silent.
This poem is my way of remembering them. The reason I find working to heal ancestral trauma so important is I believe eventually it will dissolve hatred and allow love to grow. I use dreams and Tarot. Others find methods that resonate with them. It is all good work.
I continue to be a work in progress. Keeping my word to Mr. and Mrs. S.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We appreciate you.
https://vickietrancho.medium.com/
Originally published at http://shrineonvickie.blogspot.com.