Schmetterling is German for butterfly. I chose the name because, by superimposing the letters of my real name upon each other, I can create a symbol that looks something like a butterfly--and, not wanting to call myself The Butterfly for fear of sounding sexually or politically oriented in ways that I am not, so I chose a random language (German) and used an online translator to get the name I now use in cyberspace. I have since learned, thanks to Wikipedia, that Schmetterling was the name of a WWII surface-t0-air missile developed by the Germans.
But today I learned something that--that I think I ought to have something philosophical to say about, but, alas, I do not.
Here's a picture, though:
That's the cover of a DVD. There's a book called I Never Saw Another Butterfly that's somehow related. That's all I really know.
I learned in my Psychology class today that, in some concentration camps, the doomed Jews drew pictures on the walls--some of butterflies. I think that the above picture is of a butterfly drawn on a wall by a condemned Jew.
Here's a poem that was written by a Jew in a ghetto:
"The Butterfly"
- 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 good-bye.
- For seven weeks I've lived in here,
- Penned up inside this ghetto.
- But I have found what I love here.
- The dandelions call to me
- And the white chestnut branches in the court.
- Only I never saw another butterfly.
- That butterfly was the last one.
- Butterflies don't live in here,
- in the ghetto.
- by Pavel Friedman
So. I am Schmetterling--am I the sort of Schmetterling people long for in the ghettos of their lives? Am I the sort of thing a doomed prisoner would draw on a prison law?
Kinda doubt it. But. Maybe I could be that sort of--
Help me out here, readers. Is anyone able to give this thought shape? I feel completely unable.
I can't help, but the discussion reminded me of The Zookeeper's Wife, a book I just finished reading. It has some pretty butterfly imagery. (And is also, incidentally, about Poland during WWII)
ReplyDeleteHm. Interesting. I've kinda been on a Holocaust book kick lately; I may have to pick that one up.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay you can't help me with my conundrum; I'm just happy to have comments, so--thank you!
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ReplyDeleteConfuzzled's nice. You'll like her. You should check out her blog as well.
As for your issue, maybe you could help one person one time--isn't that as long as butterflies live? And isn't that enough?
Aw, th. vouched for me. I'm blushing, just a little. (Of course, I did wander over here due to his link, so . . .) Anyway, I'd highly recommend the Ackerman. It's sad, but it's also very hopeful. She strikes a good balance that way.
ReplyDelete's a hard balance to strike. I always appreciate when someone manages to find it.
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ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean you never use picture?
Okay, maybe not never, per se, but very, very rarely. Other than this post and that one time I talked about Viggo as Poe, I don't think I ever have.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteWhat about just now?
I thought of that as I posted it. I even fleetingly considered giving the post a title ("We're still not listening...") rather than a number ("Post 183"), but I thought that that might be going too far.
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