Children sleeping
tousle-headed, their
innocent mouths
pursing in dream.
Weary men, exhausted women
prepare for bed
and another day
in the brief electric light.
Tourists lay quiet
plans for the next
day, or week, enjoying the hiss
of rain on thatch.
A village sleeps.
Untimely roosters crow,
monkeys scold
from the jungle deeps.
Further upriver
they've been logging.
Killing the rainforest,
but not the rain.
The river rises steadily
as rain sluices
down newly cleared hills.
Held in check by a
glut of logs, taken
without care or permission.
With a crack and roar
the dam gives way.
Water rushes ahead,
sweeping all before.
Sweeping the children,
the tourists, the men.
Sweeping the women, the
village from its bed.
Homes gone, plans gone,
friends and children and lovers.
A village weeps
before midnight.
Two hundred lights went out
early, and forever
in the still Sumatran night.
Before Midnight ( in Bukit Lawang)
Moderator: moonflower
Forum rules
This forum is for poems that are in tribute to an event, tragedy, person, etc.
This forum does not autoprune.
This forum is for poems that are in tribute to an event, tragedy, person, etc.
This forum does not autoprune.
- heinzs
- The Fat Cat
- Posts: 8419
- Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2001 12:01 am
- Tag line: Do no harm
- Location: Novato, CA
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Re: Before Midnight ( in Bukit Lawang)
A tribute to those who perished in such a tragic event...
An' it harm none, do what ye will. Blessed Be.
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