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TRAN
LE KHANH
_______________________________
TSUNAMI
DISASTER
Tsunami, tsunami;
December twenty six, two thousand four,
A tsunami following a nine-point quake
Roared in anger and rushed onto South Asia
heavenly beaches,
the beaches of Aceh, Phuket
, Calang,
devastated everything and shoved them to the
ocean.
All the beautiful immaculate resorts,
All the comfortable, splendid hotels
All the nice restaurants and pretty shops
All the tourists who came from different
continents
All, in that fatal moment
were rolled into the open sea
by deadly waves.
More than two hundred thousands
people
Have died or are still unaccounted for
So many children have lost their parents
So many husbands crying for their wives and
children
and lots of honeymooners were
forever separated.
No words would be powerful enough to describe the
disaster
No tears would express the grieving and feelings
of loss
There are more corpses drifted back from the sea
but decomposed beyond
recognition.
The survivors are crying, lamenting
Asking for their relatives, husbands, wives and
children
Why did we leave our house to come here for death?
On the roads, everywhere, there are bodies
of the dead and the survivors
Gasping amidst the unbearable stench.
Hundred thousands more will be prey to possible
malaria,
cholera and starvation.
The sun has returned, brighter than ever,
The sea is blue and peaceful as in the past,
The scenery regains its usual beauty
as Tsunami has never visited
this place.
But the dead were gone,
the old scenery disappeared
The Indian Ocean suddenly becomes an ancient cemetary.
Be rich, poor, happy or miserable
Be white, black, yellow or brown
There is always one truth:
In death, people are equal
They are all stupefied, tattered, or naked
the only difference is the
size of the coffin.
Oh God, oh Buddha, and Allah
Please give humankind your blessings
And appease their heart-wrenching sufferings
Please allow the dead ‘s
spirits to enjoy Peace in Heaven.
Tsunami, tsunamì
Please don’t ever come back.
Tran LeKhanh (1-05)
·
THE WRITERS POST (ISSN:
1527-5467),
the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation.
VOLUME
7 ISSUE 1 JAN
2005
Editorial
note:
Works published in this issue may be simultaneously published in the printed Wordbridge Magazine Issue 6 January 2005 (ISSN:
1540-1723).
Copyright © Tran Le Khanh
1999-2005. Nothing in this issue may be downloaded, distributed, or
reproduced without the permission of the author/ translator/ artist/ The Writers Post/
and Wordbridge magazine. Creating links to place
The Writers Post or any of its pages within other framesets or in other
documents is copyright violation, and is not permitted.
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