30.07.2006
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Join Democracy for Burma Alliance
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A MOTHER’S RAGE
(Dedicated to all the mothers of child-soldiers)
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I saw him lying on a slab
I could not recognise
His once sweet face
His head was smashed
His legs were broken,
His guts spilled out,
A broken doll -
Bruised, bleeding and battered.
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They took him away from home
One day in the middle of December.
Days, weeks and months went by
I waited and waited.
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One day in May a letter came
“I’m sorry I’ve not written, Mum,
Don’t worry, I’m ok
Not much to eat,
It’s a hard life but I’ll get by
I don’t get beaten too often now.
I’ll send you money next payday.
They keep us very busy
From dawn to dusk -
(Training, marching, fighting, killing)
I’ll write you again soon.”
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Days went by,
Weeks went by,
A year went by,
I waited, and waited.
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Until one day last July.
A letter came from the hospital,
“We are sorry, your son is dead”
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I did not understand,
How could that be?
He was a happy, healthy growing lad,
Good to everyone and
They all loved him
He was a ray of sunlight
Touching our hearts,
Giving us hope.
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They said:
“The cause of death was
Internal and external injuries",
And that, his last words were:
“Mum, I love you, please forgive me!”
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Oh son, son, son! -
WHY did you have to suffer so?
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He was 11 years old
The day he was taken away
How can I ever understand
What they did to him
How can I ever get over
The heartache of losing him,
The one I gave life to,
The one who was my life?
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“Life is always fair” you say,
“Justice will be done”
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Are those words meant to comfort me?
Are those words meant to give me hope?
I don’t need your bloody empty words!
I don’t need your bloody sympathy!
I don’t need your patronising words!
I don’t need your pious simpering smiles!
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This is MY SON you are talking about,
He was a part of me -
I bled with him when he bled,
I died with him when he died.
How can I ever begin to think
That life is EVER fair?
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Life will never be fair
As far as I know
Not even when
I can feel
The regime’s blood
On my hands.
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And justice,
Justice will be done
Only when
The rage and anger of this mother
Is completely sated.
FERAYA NANGMONE
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Comments
Dave Law said _
Dear Feraya, this is a very gut-wrenching composition and I hope we can follow up on this issue with more pieces.
Your Comments here_
Request: If you can kindly volunteer to translate BURMA DIGEST English articles into Burmese, please let us know BDeditors@tayzathuria.org.uk .
Please download from http://www.tayzathuria.org.uk/BD.pdf a simple, portable and printable version of BURMA DIGEST and send it to all your Burmese friends.
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