The Home of Orphans
By Simon Yel , Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia
——
They stand alone at the city corner,
an old hat crushed in his hands.
There is no hope in those eyes,
fixed on a scarred and empty street.
Wiping and crying
an old hat crushed in his hands.
There is no hope in those eyes,
fixed on a scarred and empty street.
Wiping and crying
——
On a facing page two blind children
are sitting together. What they are saying
to each other we are not told,
but that they are disabled and insane.
are sitting together. What they are saying
to each other we are not told,
but that they are disabled and insane.
——
The children wandering from one
burned suburb to another,
seeking that which no longer exists:
a neighborhood, a playing field,
a wading pool or a standing swing;
for a kite to fly, a ball to throw,
or just one pigeon to stone.
burned suburb to another,
seeking that which no longer exists:
a neighborhood, a playing field,
a wading pool or a standing swing;
for a kite to fly, a ball to throw,
or just one pigeon to stone.
——–
And through all this haunted vacancy,
from cellars and pits of sand,
come and go as on a fitful wind
such whispers, taunts and pleadings:
the scolding voices of dead parents,
the lessons of teachers no longer
standing, whose classrooms
are blown to ash and smoky air.
from cellars and pits of sand,
come and go as on a fitful wind
such whispers, taunts and pleadings:
the scolding voices of dead parents,
the lessons of teachers no longer
standing, whose classrooms
are blown to ash and smoky air.
——-
——-
It is 2014. We are waiting for what
we cannot see and have no name for:
a booted stride on a street of glass,
the triumph of a murderous will,
the looting and burning of houses
the hiding in the bushes.
we cannot see and have no name for:
a booted stride on a street of glass,
the triumph of a murderous will,
the looting and burning of houses
the hiding in the bushes.
——-
Two years have passed,
after we have voted to own this home
To have peace , stability and freedom
but still more deaths and running
The internally displaced persons are packed everwhere,
children and elderly are dying of hunger,
No shelter nor water .
after we have voted to own this home
To have peace , stability and freedom
but still more deaths and running
The internally displaced persons are packed everwhere,
children and elderly are dying of hunger,
No shelter nor water .
——-
And now the vast acres of rubble,
the pitched and roofless houses.
the stray snipers aiming at dusk,
and in the roadside fields,
flowers that explode when picked,
With no meaning of killing
the pitched and roofless houses.
the stray snipers aiming at dusk,
and in the roadside fields,
flowers that explode when picked,
With no meaning of killing
——–
—-
The children there are not yet blind;
they are old enough to see
Old enough to keep the memories ,
Asking themselves ;
Is this the country our grandfathers and grandmothers died for !.
Is this the country our fathers and mothers died , fought and voted for!
they are old enough to see
Old enough to keep the memories ,
Asking themselves ;
Is this the country our grandfathers and grandmothers died for !.
Is this the country our fathers and mothers died , fought and voted for!
About Post Author
