Milton Ehrlich’s most recent poem to appear here was “The Wheel of Change” (October 2017)

Father Doesn’t Always Know What’s Best 
By Milton Ehrlich

Just when I got comfortable
using our double-seater outhouse,
Father said it was time to move again.

We piled into his new Model A Ford,
and he began to yank at the crank
to turn over the motor—but it wouldn’t start.

As he returned to the front seat of the car,
he saw my smudged fingers had lingered
on his windshield. The psoriatic rash
on his face flared flaming red.

Growling like a rabid mongrel,
he lunged for me—calling me a dirty Jew.
The name drove a spike into my heart.

In between sobs, I confronted him
with words that made no sound.
As the only Jew in my class,
all I ever heard was Christ killer!

In later years, I realized how much Father
was trying to pass for “white,” working
in a waspy corporation for 36 years.

He identified with the enemy,
like Kapos at Auschwitz and Treblinka.

In The Bridge On The River Kwai,
Father could well have played the part
of Alec Guinness—helping the enemy
build their bridge.