THE WRITERS POST

(ISSN: 1527-5467)
the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation.

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1

JAN 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 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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