I was never asked to choose a side, it is to fate I must abide. I am the child that war has aged, I am the soul that time has caged.
I am the breeze, lost in a storm, I am that flower whose stem was torn. I am a dream never achieved, I am the innocence that war conceived.
Among the rubble I stand alone, my precious home a pile of stone. Out in the cold without a cover, I starve to death or may recover.
I am the cries and all the screams, I am the victim of corrupt regimes. In every battle or every war, it is my blood they always draw.
I am a bird without his wings, I am the child who lost his limbs. Amidst the fear and all the dread, I am a body amongst the dead.
......
Today I cried a painful tear
for the world that’s falling apart.
The violence and the terrible ways,
I wish people would have heart.
The people of the world today,
It’s obvious they just don’t care.
The worlds too busy thinking of themselves,
They’re really not aware!
The images that I see,
Scrolling across my TV,
......
We are left speechless by man's inhumanity to man. This collection includes poems about the Holocaust, Auschwitz, Gaza and the Palestinian Nakba ("Catastrophe"), Hiroshima, 9-11, war, and other forms of human violence...
Speechless
by Ko Un
translation by Michael R. Burch
At Auschwitz
piles of glasses
......
Where wrong minds flood
Heart is sure to bleed
Heaven turns into Hell
Where Devil lives to breed.
Temples go dead with dread
Where vices ring bells in glee;
Where theists are galore
God does feel forced to flee.
The child stands before the slow turning of the world,
unaware of the full measure of its cruelty.
There is a stillness in the air,a fragile quiet that feels almost safe,
yet beneath it something restless stirs.
They look ahead with eyes unmarked by experience, but already the shadows of conflict brush against their gaze.
Somewhere beyond the horizon, lives are being broken by the cold mechanics of violence,
though the child cannot yet name it.
They have not learned the language of loss,
but they will.
......
The child stands before the slow turning of the world,
unaware of the full measure of its cruelty.
There is a stillness in the air,a fragile quiet that feels almost safe,
yet beneath it something restless stirs.
They look ahead with eyes unmarked by experience, but already the shadows of conflict brush against their gaze.
Somewhere beyond the horizon, lives are being broken by the cold mechanics of violence,
though the child cannot yet name it.
They have not learned the language of loss,
but they will.
......
We are left speechless by man's inhumanity to man. This collection includes poems about the Holocaust, Auschwitz, Gaza and the Palestinian Nakba ("Catastrophe"), Hiroshima, 9-11, war, and other forms of human violence...
Speechless
by Ko Un
translation by Michael R. Burch
At Auschwitz
piles of glasses
......
Something is rotting inside me.
Nauseatingly sweet release.
I cross the street, looking around.
Safety has a price.
Banana condom taste test.
Red light’s gone out.
Nervous tic motion
......
I was never asked to choose a side, it is to fate I must abide. I am the child that war has aged, I am the soul that time has caged.
I am the breeze, lost in a storm, I am that flower whose stem was torn. I am a dream never achieved, I am the innocence that war conceived.
Among the rubble I stand alone, my precious home a pile of stone. Out in the cold without a cover, I starve to death or may recover.
I am the cries and all the screams, I am the victim of corrupt regimes. In every battle or every war, it is my blood they always draw.
I am a bird without his wings, I am the child who lost his limbs. Amidst the fear and all the dread, I am a body amongst the dead.
......
He calls himself
A reactionary,
One more out of
The ordinary.
Led to believe
That he can justify
The blood on his mind
And get by.
......