W. W. II GERMAN S.S. DIVISION SOUP SPOON, $250.00 by David Winter


 

Roller Mills Antique Mall, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

And now we are getting into the gullet,
which all things must pass through.
Black bread of the Jews of Słupca.
Ten million rations of fleischkonserve
through the ten million gullets
of the Wehrmacht. Yolk through
the gullet of the fox. Panzers through
the Polish country side. The Torah
of Słupca through the gullet of the
synagogue—that inferno. Leberwurst
through the gullet of the gruppenfuhrer.
Sh’ma Yisrael through the gullets
of the Jews of Słupca. Lemon drops
inscribed with hakenkreuz dissolve
on the führer’s tongue. The Jews
of Słupca through the gullet of the ghetto
of Rzgow. Stale bread, potato soup
through the gullets of lucky Jews. Sh’ma
Yisrael through fewer gullets every day.
The Jews of Słupca through the gullet
of the forest of Kazimierz Biskupi.
Quicklime through the gullets of the Jews
of Słupca, as they pass, still living,
through the gullet of their grave.

 

 

David Winter wrote the chapbook Safe House (Thrush Press, 2013). His poems have also appeared in The Baffler, Grist, Meridian, Muzzle, Ninth Letter, and Poetry International, among others. David received his MFA from The Ohio State University, an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and a Stadler Fellowship from Bucknell University. He is currently a doctoral student in creative writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.