Poem for Burma
Come, friend, sit beside me
on the river bank
Hear the ripples break the stillness
See the leaf bob on the waters
Now lightning strikes the water
A body floats by
And the earth
On which we sit turns scarlet
A child whose face
Is blank with despair
Sits amongst silent corpses
Looking at the murderer
Who does not see, nor hear nor feel
Oh, may we be his eyes,
his ears and his heart!
Hush, hear the goddess
who reigns this land
Whose precious feet walk
alongside those of Ghandi,
His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
Mandela and other noble warriors
Hush, hear her heart
beat the anguish
of mothers who have seen
their children raped and desecrated
Hush, hear her whisper
to her Buddha children“and yet... and yet
DO NO HARM”
See her face imprinted
on the hearts of saffron robed soldiers
Oh, what have we done!
http://burmanewsnetwork.blogspot.com
© Anna Varney-Wong
The thief left it behind: the moon at my window - Ryokan
Monday, February 2, 2009
Friend, stop a moment
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2 comments:
I like the way that the words flow in this poem!
the last line, oh what have we done, is very true.
My father was in Burma when it was part of the empire.
so you know! thanks for stopping by
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