They came at dawn, benevolent with promises
with open hands, and buses, candy-smiles,
separating fathers from their wives
sisters to the left and brothers to the right
before they served the black milk from the past.
‘It can never happen here in Europe’
‘We have learned, and we are better now’
Yet we watched and failed.
Some were neighbors just before the war.
The gun-men and the corpse,
the rapists and the girl who lost her smile.
once used to chat and laugh at sunset
before the lines were drawn,
before the milk turned black again.
They tried to hide the bodies
digging soil and separating limbs
and still we search for heads to match with arms.
Today one-hundred-thirty-six boys and men
were laid to rest with names on headstones
forensically matched to relatives
in the town of Srebrenica.
Where they served the black milk from the past.
Genocide by Sue Park
Today Grace introduce the poetry of Paul Celan at toads. His most famous poem is the Fugue of death retelling the terrible Holocaust, that begins with the phrase: “Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening / we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night”. As it is the 20th anniversary of the Srebenica massacre today, I’m sad that we have not learned, that these atrocities, still go on. The black milk is still served in places all over the world.
—
July 11, 2015
Björn Rudbergs writings 
I LOVE this poem. Especially this section:
“the rapists and the girl who lost her smile.
once used to chat and laugh at sunset
before the lines were drawn,
before the milk turned black again.
They tried to hide the bodies
digging soil and separating limbs
and still we search for heads to match with arms.”
Excellent work!
Sadly, these atrocities do still go on – even at that scale.
And try as we might to deny it – its a bit more insidious these days,
we have only learned how to hide it – or ignore it – better.
Such a poignant & heartfelt poem. Well penned!
I am reminded of the Holocaust by this poem, mass graves more recently….we humans never learn. As horrible as these atrocities are, what would be worse would be that we stop caring.
The metaphor of black milk is a powerful one…and it is so true that atrocities continue in more places than we would like to believe.
So terrifying. You brought this forward so powerfully, Bjorn…these stories must be remembered…maybe one day the ignorance will cease.
lowliness of humans powerfully brought out..It is sad how the atrocities still continue…we never seem to learn from history….
Excellent, powerful write, Björn – history rewritten time and again
A sad and powerful poem, Bjorn.
How quickly the world changes when we are indoctrinated into a war – which if asked those who end up fighting may not even know why they are carrying out the actions of despots who keep their hands clean..the personal touches in this make it all the more poignant – the girl and the boy chatting at sunset..awakening to a very different morning..admiration must be given to the people who have worked so hard to identify those lost people..powerful piece…
One can never fathom what many ways can the human kind exhausts its energy to inflict pain and destruction to fellow men! Truly said Bjorn!
Hank
you have served rather too well another moment in history when the milk of human kindness turned sour – a brilliant piece of poetry
The horrors keep repeating all across the globe…a terrific poem about a terrible tragedy.
such things are repeating again, wish the world learns to love peace
Sadly we all encouraged to hate someone to justify the actions of insane governments. There is not much profit in peace.
Hatred, scapegoating, fear of each other–these things are indeed everywhere theses days–here in my own country I wonder if we are not just a breath away from acts like this–we have them already, just on a smaller scale, less organized–the black milk is deadly for those who must drink it, but seemingly sweetly addictive to the servers. Fine poem, Bjorn.
20 years since then….and still atrocities continue. Your poem is a sad reminder of this tragedy of the past & one which causes us to look at our world as it STILL is today.
That is still a lot of bodies and bones to bury ~ It is sad to believe that these atrocities repeat and repeat, like we have never learned ~ Thanks for writing for this challenge at Real Toads Bjorn ~ Wishing you a wonderful vacation ~
You would think we would learn. But we don’t.
Powerful words. May we learn by them.
def. those horrible things go on until today and way too often brushed under the carpet to hide..
You used your inspiration very well, to recreate this terrible event.
gruesome indeed is the taste of that black milk; thanks for sharing your skillful handling of such a challenging poetry prompt
have a lovely Sunday Bjorn
much love…
a tragic past that will linger in history…unfortunately there are still events like this going on in parts of the world.
A wonderful poem Bjorn–it feels sometimes like this black milk is a kind of mother’s milk to the culture–terrible. I think in the U.S., too little attention was paid to this conflict–it just seemed strange and foreign and the U.S. populace is not too interested if its just U.S. soldiers (and not civilians) involved. Very sad. Thanks for the fine poem. k.
Many Bosniaks are now living in Sweden … so it’s very very close to us.
Ah yes. We had a refugee working in our office, but some time ago–in the middle of the conflict–I believe he got political asylum as he was a christian married to a moslem. A professor of anthropology he started out here as as a copy person, but then did very well, I believe, as time passed. k.
Your poem contains past, present, and future. I would not be “ringside at genocide” if I could help it. I wonder though, given the foreign policies of the USA, if I am not in some ways ringside–like for Palestine and Gaza?
Alas we all are ringside to the genocides..
Bjorn, a brilliant write, and a sobering fact, that it is all still going on – hatred of Otherness, instead of recognition of our human Sameness. I am working on a piece for this prompt, very dark, as such events are. Your closing line is a knockout! Wowzers!
this is some haunting poetry here
Haunting is a good word. We should all be haunted by this reality of inhumanity,
Elizabeth
Really makes me sigh. Powerful poem.
And we swore it would never happen again. But we never seem to learn.
The black milk of the past sadly is ever present still. Love the intimidating opening of ‘candy smiles’.
and we never learn. Very powerful ! A lesson for mankind.
Indeed my heart aches when I continue to see these ‘ethnic cleansings’…these mass murders and why, for what. Excellent writing Bjorn!
Black milk is such a powerful image ~ so sad that this violence still goes on. Hopefully by bringing awareness, these tragedies won’t happen again in the future.
Intense and powerful: the black milk of the past, an indelible, haunting metaphor.
this one I had to read a second and third time – still I’m not sure how I should feel – lovely work
One of the things that shocked me the most was that 20 years later the crime of ‘genocide’ is still being denied. One despairs that responsibility for past actions is being shirked to this day. Admission of guilt can pave the way towards reconciliation, which is obviously not felt considering the attack on the Serbian PM at the ceremony.
Your poem reminds us of the horror of a conscience-less war, and it comes at a time when aggression in Europe and the Middle East is reaching another crescendo. We do not do justice to the past if we ignore such atrocity.
I wonder why people never stop atrocities, what makes it so ingrained that it continues generation after genration. A powerful poem, Bjorn.
“in the town of Srebrenica.
Where they served the black milk from the past.” This poem is one of your best. A true indictment against the human race.
Such a moving piece about such a harrowing topic.
“‘It can never happen here in Europe’
‘We have learned, and we are better now’
Yet we watched and failed.”
Such chilling, but regrettably true lines. What’s the quote? “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”
When history becomes something only read in a book, only historians remembered the lessons learned. The rest of humanity is doomed to repeat the atrocities because we have either forgotten the lessons learned, or don’t care, or as many who committed the unthinkable in the names of their Lords, believe their cause is just.
Excellent words to give soul to heartless reality.
Intense piece, Brudberg. This poem is going to haunt me for weeks. ..so well penned!!
A compelling read, Bjorn. You force us to look at the truth of humanity’s deficiencies and the cruel intents of some.
Haunting, with candy smiles and black milk. We need these words heard. We cover up history and I agree we can’t heal without exposing the truth.
I loved this.. Straight from heart!
Powerful write, Bjorn. Sadly, the black milk poison of hate and depravity still flows from man’s heart…unless transformed.
the facade of kindness as they serve their hidden agendas….so wonderfully written, as always.
Very well done Bjorn. Exquisite even. >KB
Chillingly good. Benevolent promises…excellent.
Neighbour against neighbour. Will we ever truly learn the lessons history tries to teach us?
This was an excellent and haunting write. Gave me cold creeps deep inside.