By: EnnaDa- Kiruthika Thusyanthan
I remember the cries of mothers desperately trying to revive their children to life, half alive themselves
I remember the screams of young girls and women tearing apart the sky in its last strain for help
I remember fathers scrambling to find and protect their families, frantic and panicking
I remember her skin burning in flames at 3 years old, still learning the difference between hot and cold
I remember his asthma attack caught in thick black fumes, left with only one able leg and half an arm to move
I remember the crumble of buildings and walls that sheltered people alive
I remember it blasted to pieces until the alive had died
The syringes and medication buried in dirt while the sick and injured cried
as make-shift hospitals were targeted for its saviours
along with the blasting of prayer sights
targeted for providing mere hope
along with the blasting of schools
targeted for the upbringing of our new generation
targeted for the protection and preservation, of our culture and race
so they chased down the innocent,
in a race with time
ruthlessly slaughtering and murdering our kind
This was our brothers our sisters, our people, our ties
being tortured and silenced, lie after lie
This was our land being exploded, our winds being polluted, our waters being contaminated
Our identity and culture under attack, our religions and values disgraced and harassed
what have we done, what have they done to deserve that?
Story after story that made its way through the news,
Made its way to their relatives, as loss made its way to their rooms
we didn’t stand still, till the streets knew
regardless of the sun and the moon, the heat and the cold, the snow and the rain
we were going to stand up stand loud, till our voices were drained
And I remember the elderly and the youth working hand in hand,
out in the bitter winters to spread the message and take a stand
I remember endless days, sleeping numb against a curb, voice so strained it could barley be heard
but even in our sleep we were still whisperin the words
“stop the genocide…
media media open ur eyes
stop bombing, schools and hospitals”
candle lights flickered, with our hearts dying out
papers passed around, petitions signed for help
spread awareness, peaceful protests, educated ourselves
to bring about political change so our oppressed minority could get out,
from the bloody claws of a criminal government made from hell
But all this violence was met by silence,
as the world turned its head in negligence,
and its people turned their backs in ignorance
hense the innocent lives lost by the thousands, for simply breathing as a Thamilan
children who will never meet their dreams and desires
knock on the doors of my sleep
lulling away dreams of who they wanted to be
“ a doctor, a teacher a sailor at sea….”
hovering above were thick black clouds as it collided with hopes
as blood rained from above
and in the crowds of our protests, as we chanted out loud
I see them roaming, invisible to sight
watching over their families as each bomb shell shut an eye.
I remember their hunger, dry throat to their thirst
cramped in overcrowded tents feeding on dirt
bleeding and injured, pain filled and hurt
with no one to recover
with our voice as their hope
I remember the Genocide
because its truth that you can’t hide
as it resurfaced on its own through black lies
I remember the Tamil Genocide
May Massacre of 2009
Rest In Peace
Tags: Poetry/Art
