Drifting Away

There were eight short simple words.
Men to the left.
Women to the right.
They said it without emotion.
And quietly
I parted from my mother
And felt pressure as I was holding my mother's hand.
She grasped my hand and started to pull away.
As I glimpsed at my mother and sisters
they were drifting away
I saw them disappear.
I went on walking with my father.
He grabbed my hand.
I thought not to lose him, not to be left alone.
At all costs we must stick together.
-R.S.