Realization

It was the Russian officer

Who told me

What I already knew

In my heart.

Do not expect to find them,

He said.

It was the Russian officer

Who told me

What I could not make sense of

In my head.

Not many survived,

He said.

How?

I wondered.

Did this happen?

Why?

I asked.

Did I survive?

Why me?

He held my hand

Wiped my tears

And said,

Be thankful

You are alive.

You are free.

I crushed the Heart

To my heart.

Sometimes freedom is relative.