Twin Shame

They tore me
from the lap of my motherland,
threw me out of my home,
usurped my estate
and forced me into exile,
because I belonged
to a faith different from theirs.
Now perchance when they meet me
I cannot fathom why,
much as I would like to greet them
like in the days gone by,
neither can I accost them
nor look them straight in the eye.
I melt with the twin shame
of the victim
who failed to defend himself
and of the tormentors
who felt no remorse
at the betrayal of the trust
that was reposed in them.