The Scooters of Amsterdam

Amsterdam Then

Amsterdam Now.

The Scooters of Amsterdam 

My soul has been impoverished,
My heart has lost its beat,
This world has come to garbage,
The ruins lie at my feet. 

Four hundred days so horrid,
And more, and more, and more.
Yet the world still can’t acknowledge, 
Ignored, ignored, ignored.

One hundred Jews held hostage, 
That I cannot ignore, 
One hundred Jews in bondage,
Like so many times before. 

My soul, it used to dream, 
Of peace and joy so sweet, 
But now that dream is dead,
Crushed beneath October’s feet. 

“If This Were a Man,” 
Tell Levi, now I know, 
A Jew beneath the horrid hand,
Of a world that hates our glow.
Shrinks down, in pain, as small as sand,
Till there’s nothing left to show.

The Nazi’s Boot,
Hamas’ Jeep, 
The Scooters of Amsterdam — 

The Cossacks’ red horses, 
The Crusaders with torches,
Any man with a knife in his hand —

The sound of pogrom, 
It comes and it comes, 
But still the world won’t understand. 

The U.N.’s complains, 
The Red Cross restrains,
It’s clear they care not for our sons.

Nor either our daughters, 
They witnessed their slaughter,
But they turned their eyes up to the sun. 

They chose their own blindness,
Over human kindness,
Why? And for whom? And for what? 

This pain that I feel,
Brings my anguished appeal,
To the world that claims to care.

Where are you now, 
More than four hundred days out, 
From the day that they took our kids?

If they were yours,
You would need not implore,
Anything like this from me. 

You would have my support,  
From port unto port, 
Until all your kids had been freed. 

For children are sacred, 
Regardless of nation, 
Of faction, of faith, or of creed.

Their taking is shameless,
Their abduction is heinous – 
These actions are beyond belief. 

Does a Jew not have eyes? 
Do his kids not need care? 
Are we pigs for your slaughter?
And clowns for your fair? 

My soul has been impoverished, 
By a world that’s lost its own, 
My heart has lost its beat, 
And my mind has lost its home. 

I stand in disbelief, 
At the silence of the world,
These men are more like beef,
Blind to truth but tails atwirl. 

Wake up to your blindness,
Gaze not at the sun,
Look down at the earth,
And what it has become. 

Do something now that’s righteous,
Do something now, for once,
Evil cannot thrive, 
And justice must be done.   

A pox on any house, 
Of parents who are silent, 
When children have been taken, 
By those who wish them violence. 

If you won’t speak for the Jews, 
If you won’t speak for our kids, 
Who will protect yours,
When they’re brought to the abyss? 

You have been so quiet, 
You men of wringing wrists, 
Your silence spurs the violent, 
And scares the men of wit. 

First they come for us, 
And then they’ll come for you,
If only you were a man, 
When they started hunting Jews. 

~

Spread Love, Spread Light,

Am Yisrael Chai