The Golem in Reverse

The golem is awoken after a long slumber,
tasked with a holy mission. He walks the streets
of Prague, banishing death. The red river runs clear,
the bodies have breath returned to them. And yet
when they see their savior they are terrified.
Faced with a power they don’t understand or control
they lash out at its makers. They blame their dead
children on the people of the ghetto, and when
the bodies soak up the blood and walk away
that just means there’s no evidence to dispute
their claims. In an attempt to placate their oppressors,
the Jews recall the golem to the synagogue, they erase
the words from his forehead and unmake him, returning
him to clay. Time stops. The people of Prague
are allowed just a moment to understand
what they have given up. Then time resumes
its forward march, and death retakes its throne.