I Never Saw It Read

In the dark corner of the basement

I find it.

“Whose books are these?” I ask.

Blank faces stare back at me.

Maybe it was Pop Platt’s, maybe it was from Poppy’s family.

Why did they keep it? I thought to myself.

I never saw it read.

The maroon cover had a few scratches and some discoloration

But the pages inside were crisp and clean.

“Do you read Yiddish?” I ask Uggy and Aunt Freda.

“Not really.” They replied.

I wonder why they kept it. What story does the book tell?

I don’t read Yiddish but can figure out that it is from 1918 and printed in New York.

Before I notice the author and title in English letters on a different page, I spell it out.

Karl

Marx

D

A

S

K

A

P

I

T

A

L

I never saw it read.

Written by Rabbi Bruce Bromberg Seltzer as part of Remembering Flamingo Park Installation at Helen Hills Hills Chapel

Fall 2005. A program of the Office of Jewish Chaplain supported by a grant from the Jacob Burns Endowment for Ethics of Hillel: Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.