Photo of beaded and sequinned tapestry at Centre Pompidou, Paris by Jordana Shalhoub. Click photo to view detail.
Despite a whirlwind of guests and brocantes, I've been keeping a close eye on the news from Burma. I've been dismayed by the Burmese government's deliberate and targeted violence against peaceful protesters. The Washington-based group US Campaign for Burma said around 200 protesters have been killed, including Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai. Shari Villarosa, the most senior US diplomat in Burma told reporters, "It's tragic. These were peaceful demonstrators, very well behaved."
The Independent, London reported that a Burmese journalist said, "The police were shooting everything – houses, trees, anything. The bullets were flying over our heads. It was as if they were on drugs and were crazy." Seven young people ran from the protest in Thanwe and tried to hide in long grass, the 23-year-old journalist said. "Informers were pointing to the grass, people got up and ran, but the police just fired into their backs. Four were gunned down straight away. Shot dead," she said.
For the Sunday Scribblings prompt "powerful," a poem about real power:
Power to the people
Power doesn't belong
to the Burmese soldiers
firing wildly at anyone and anything
or to the one who killed a journalist
at point blank range.
Power belongs to the people
who march in quiet defiance;
who dare to speak the truth;
who show by peaceful resistance
someday justice will prevail.
Power is an illusion for the military junta
who think that beating monks,
arresting and torturing citizens
and shooting protesters
will secure their rule.
The junta might crush this uprising
with violence and force,
but they can't banish the seeds
of freedom sown long ago
now growing wildly
in the hearts and minds
of so many ordinary citizens who,
like Aung San Suu Kyi
will not give up their rights
and accept military rule.
The junta may cut communications,
but they can't suppress the stories
of those who bear witness
to their brutality
and inhumanity.
Power doesn't belong to China
or those nations with influence
who say nothing
and do nothing to stop the bloodshed,
as the world watches in horror.
Power belongs to the people
unafraid to act;
to those who raise their voices in opposition;
who refuse to accept dictates
from those with no right to govern.
Power to the people.
Seriously there are no more powerful words, than in this post!! The power of truth rings loud and clear all over the world! This poem captures what so many feel when the innocent are victimized with such brutality! What a dangerous world we live in! I'm praying for peace!
Big Hugs Tara
Your powerful words always make a difference!
Posted by: giggles | 05 October 2007 at 11:04
Spot on, so powerful, Thank YOU!
Posted by: Redness | 04 October 2007 at 16:11
Tara ... wonderfully powerful poem. I pray for those who are trying to make a change. And, I pray for those who are abusing power, may they see that it does not belong in their hands, but instead belongs to the people. Peace, JP/deb
Posted by: JanePoe (aka Deborah) | 02 October 2007 at 05:15
Spot on, indeed, Tara. Thank you. K.
Posted by: Karen DeGroot Carter | 01 October 2007 at 21:32
Power to those people that keep trying time and time again to bring peace and sensibility to our world.
Posted by: stephanie | 01 October 2007 at 16:37
Yes I have been thinking about Aung San Suu Kyi when I was thinking about the prompt this week. She in my opinion is the most powerful public figure in the world today.
Posted by: The Alchemist | 01 October 2007 at 16:23
Yes I have been thinking about Aung San Suu Kyi when I was thinking about the prompt this week. She in my opinion is the most powerful public figure in the world today.
Posted by: The Alchemist | 01 October 2007 at 16:21
what is amazing is that "soldiers" are also people...They should protect people againts this gouverment...not the opposite.
Posted by: Catalina | 01 October 2007 at 09:12
Avaaz has a petion you may like to sign, in an attempt to stop this brutal regime.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/s.php
Posted by: rafti | 01 October 2007 at 02:03
With power comes responsibility, and it is so sad that too often "power" is given to those who abuse it. I lived through the People Power revolution that dethroned the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and it was so moving to see true people's power in action. I hope to see this kind of power happen more often across the globe.
Posted by: bonggamom | 30 September 2007 at 23:24
Mississippi, Tiannaeman Square, Black Panthers, Kent State, Burma...
Your poem is profound, true and sad.
Posted by: MX-Susan | 30 September 2007 at 22:28
Too, way too often, we let fear tell us what to do and what to think. Ugh! We are not human when we do so.
Posted by: Mary T. | 30 September 2007 at 22:02
A mighty post. As we say where I hail from, "Amandla! Ngawethu!"
Posted by: Rethabile | 30 September 2007 at 21:50
As always, I enjoy your posts - your thoughts and the incredibly vivid way in which you express them. Power to the people! Yes! Yes!
Posted by: Tumblewords | 30 September 2007 at 21:09
Yes. And they WILL win...maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually the truth of peace will out.
Wonderful poem and thanks, as always, for making us look at what we might not want to see.
Posted by: Mardougrrl | 30 September 2007 at 21:05
I really do think that it will take a shear act of human evolution in order to move past the snares of power and violence. It is indeed the only direction we have left.
Posted by: Literary bohemian | 30 September 2007 at 20:29
Your words are profound...It is striking a sad deep within me..I feel powerLESS. I can never imagine how one person could murder another human in that manner.. It made me think of Kent State .....
Posted by: Pam Aries | 30 September 2007 at 20:26
Very powerful poem and a truth well expressed. Thank you once again for shining a light on this injustice and tragedy.
Posted by: Becca | 30 September 2007 at 20:07
what insane cowards shooting someone in the back -
passionate fervent poetry Tara
Posted by: maddie | 30 September 2007 at 20:00
we can do without their kind of power. Power to the people, right on!
excellent poem.
Posted by: lucy | 30 September 2007 at 18:25
I had hoped you'd write about Burma because I knew your poetry heart would capture all of our sentiments Tara. Watching and reading and following this story has been soul wrenching, and yet the power of the people has also been inspiring.....as is your post today.
Beautiful picture too......the tapestry capturing twinkling lights like the stars which shine on the Burmese people. Let's hope one day soon Aung San Suu Kyi can take her saved seat beside the other World Elders.
Peace to you.
Posted by: awareness | 30 September 2007 at 17:39
A powerful piece. Thank you. This is such a sad, sad thing to be happening to people who just want to be able to live in peace.
Posted by: Imelda / Greenishlady | 30 September 2007 at 17:32
Well said. Power to the people!
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet | 30 September 2007 at 14:55
..."The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and that before this battle is over, even a God-King can bleed..."
leonidas, king of sparta - 480 BC
Posted by: marita | 30 September 2007 at 10:39
Excellent piece.
How furious this all makes me - I used to work on the Burmese cause. This reminds me I really should still be.
Posted by: maryam in marrakesh | 30 September 2007 at 09:51
Mahatma Gandhi was well aware of hat.
Posted by: gautami | 30 September 2007 at 08:48
What happened, did I just lose my comment? I said that this is a great piece. I cannot bear what is going on there -- but they have to. And where is the UN?
Posted by: Jo | 30 September 2007 at 08:09
A great piece. I cannot bear what is happening there......but they have to. And the UN, yes where is the UN?
Posted by: Jo | 30 September 2007 at 08:07
What are they protesting? I have not heard.
Very sad when power goes bad...
:(
Posted by: Amber | 30 September 2007 at 04:56
We are on the same wave length.
Posted by: Steve | 30 September 2007 at 04:45
Thanks for putting words to the frustration and hopelessness that many are feeling about this. As usual, you are so eloquent in your assessment of situations like this --- all too common in our world, unfortunately.
I had such hope that the bloggers were getting photos and images and text out of the country early on in the protests. When I found out that the Internet connection had been cut by the junta, I had a horrible feeling that the shooting would begin.
Posted by: KG | 30 September 2007 at 03:36
It's disgusting what is going on over there.
We have all signed petitions here. Where is the UN?
Why aren't they involving themselves?
Power to the people is right, guns don't give you "power".
xo
Blue
Posted by: Gillian @ Indigo Blue | 30 September 2007 at 02:33
Spot on as always.
Posted by: Herb | 30 September 2007 at 01:43
Powerful poem, Tara. Such a terribly tragic situation there in Burma and unfortunately so many other places in the world, wherever the powers-that-be turn 'peaceful protests' into a bloodbath...
Keep shining the light, my friend. xox
Posted by: tinker | 29 September 2007 at 23:36
Jordana's photograph is spectacular!
Your poem reflects my sentiments about the conflict going on the Burma. Thank you for writing it!
Sleep well.
Posted by: rochambeau | 29 September 2007 at 23:35
Power to the people indeed! Well put Tara!
Posted by: Kamsin | 29 September 2007 at 23:31