The Butterfly Commentary

The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.

Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing against a white stone… Such, such a yellow Is carried lightly ‘way up high.

It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world goodbye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,

Penned up inside this ghetto

But I have found my people here.

The dandelions call to me

And the white chestnut candles in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.

Butterflies don’t live in here,

In the ghetto.

Pavel Friedmann 4.6.1942

This poem was written by Pavel Friedmann, a Jew in Terezin Concentration Camp. He was around our age (12-15). Just months after this was written, Pavel died in Auschwitz. This poem inspires many feelings, but most predominantly among them all, hope. I think that everyone, in the beginning, truly believed that they were going to go home. Most never did. This poem showcases a unique, human ability— the ability to hope. To find things in a terrible place, and make it better. The tone is dark and sad, and then, he tells us what he likes in Terezin. Pavel explains that while Terezin IS a terrible place, there are small things there- the dandelions and the white chestnut candles in the court are some, that make it bearable. This poem also makes me thankful for the smaller, simpler things in life. Maybe you should take some time out of your day and appreciate those things once and a while, and take some time to stop and smell the roses.

Photo Credit: Stavros Markopoulos via Compfight