They visited Auschwitz
on a class trip

to see that what was
was real

It was by months
not decades
not memories

A class photo
She stood smiling

How could you smile
At a place such as this
Where our families were lost
Only months past

I smiled in this place
Where our families were lost
For you still stood
Behind the camera
And Before me

Dr. Maya A. Poran is an Associate Professor of Psychology, and Women’s/Gender/and Sexuality Studies, at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is a first-generation American Jew and daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her work primarily centers on uplifting marginalized voices and experiences of the invisible, exploring the griefs and joys of survival ever-present in the human journey, and highlighting resilience forged in the face of struggle; with the goal of public education and fostering empathy and community among diverse peoples.