With the One Million Bones project in mind for next Thursday, it may be important to become more familiar with the idea of genocide and how it is affecting the world even to this day. We have already taken some time to watch a video on the genocide taking place in Darfur. The following statistics on Darfur were borrowed from Danielle's and Steve's course blog (they are another Bridge class).
1. Over the past five years, over 400,000 Darfurian civilians have been killed.
2. 150,000 people have died directly from acts of violence in Darfur.
3. 90% of the villages of Darfur’s targeted ethnic groups have been destroyed.
4. 97% of these killings have been against innocent civilians and executed by militia groups instructed by the government.
5. 80 infants die each day in Darfur due to a lack of proper nutrition
6. 80% of those displaced are women and young girls who are consistently the victims of sexual violence and abducted into sexual slavery
7. Humanitarian refugee camps in Chad and Sudan are overcrowded, disease infested, and prone to attacks.
8. 2.8 million people have been displaced within Sudan.
9. 250,000 people have fled Darfur, mainly to Chad where they are facing further violence.
10. Despite an abundance of oil and other natural resources, the vast majority of Sudan’s people live in poverty, and its Government has been described as ‘the most repressive regime in the world’.
At this website, there is a selection of poems written about Darfur:
http://www.thehypertexts.com/For%20Darfur%20Poets%20Poetry%20Literature%20Art%20Genocide.htm
Take some time to read through some of the poems. This shouldn't be too unfamiliar since we have read a couple poems in class already. After reading through, find one that particularly resonates with you and write a response. If you'd like, you can include the poem in your own post.
When you get done with your response, continue responding to your classmate's.
My favorite poem on this is Darfur(Jesus Wept) by William F. Devault. I think it really gives you a good mental picture on whats going on in darfur for those who have never heard of it. It also demands that we wake up and become informed on the genocide. It demands us to take action. I think that poem can get other nations to help Darfur.
ReplyDeleteDarfur
ReplyDeleteby Dr. Amitabh Mitra
Suddenly a baby cries
Malnourished
Maltreated
And ravaged
Men woman and children
Hang by their
Skin to
Mirages
the desert burns the skull
of all reasons
Storms that sweep
Into their eyes
Locks up
Within corneas
Daring death to open them
Darfur has no word
Darfur has no meaning
Darfur has deaths
The baby squeaks
Because only
He has the pride to
Know
When the
Janjaweed
Are coming
Its time then
The mirages are
slashed open
By flashing swords and
Faceless marauders
Screams will be a welcome whirlwind
Chasing the sun again.
These poem makes me feel sick. he talks about how "Men woman and children Hang by their Skin," and this puts such a vivid image in my head. i can see the faces of the darfurians as i read this. the he says "Darfur has no word; Darfur has no meaning; Darfur has deaths. this is really depressing because he is basically saying that nobody cares about Darfur or is willing ti listen and all that Darfur has is people dieing from genocide. It is sad to think one has given up hope that someone will help. i cant even to image what that must feel like to have lost everything and expect no help from anyone.
"A Child's Epitaph"
ReplyDeleteby Michael R. Burch
"I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide."
I think this poem was the most batant and honest poem Ive ever heard.I just think he had this back against the wall mentality,when he wrote this poem.I thought it was interesting.
My favorite poem was "A Child's Epitaph" though its only two sentences it said a lot to me.
ReplyDeleteA Child's Epitaph
by Michael R. Burch
I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.
What this poem says is that life is full of danger. Its almost like a minefield, you do not know when things will happen like death. It just happens. Do not step on a mine...just be careful.
Arok, hiding from the Arabs in the branches of a tree,
ReplyDeletetwo weeks surviving on leaves,
legs numb, mouth dry.
When the mosquitoes swarmed
and the bodies settled limp as petals under the trees,
he shinnied down, scooping out a mud pit with his hands
sliding into it like a snake,
his whole body covered except his mouth.
Perhaps others were near him,
lying in gloves of mud, sucking bits of air through the swamp holes,
mosquitoes biting their lips,
but he dared not look.
What did he know of the rest of South Sudan, pockmarked with bombs,
skull trees with their necklaces of bones,
packs of bony Lost Boys
roving like hyenas towards Ethiopia,
tongues, big as toads, swelling in their mouths,
the sky pouring its relentless bombs of fire. Of course they were
tempted to lie down for a moment,
under the lone tree, with its barely shade,
to rest just a little while before moving on,
the days passing slyly, hallucinations
floating like kites above them
until the blanched bones lay scattered in a ring around the tree,
tiny ribs, skulls, hip bones—a tea set overturned,
as the hot winds whistled through them
as they would anything, really,
and the sky, finally exhausted,
moving on.
To me its so sad that people have to run and hide in the areas that they live in. It is so sad that these people have to endure these type of thing day to day, they have been taken away from the right to live. They hide not knowing when their next meals will come from. It hurts me because I have small problems,but I dont have to suffer like they do. I have rights as a human. If only I could stop Genocide.
Neglect
ReplyDeleteby Michael R. Burch
What good are your tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is your concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?
What good, the warm benevolence of tears
without action?
What help, the eloquence of prayers,
or a pleasant benediction?
Before this day is gone,
how many more will die
with bellies swollen, wasted limbs,
and eyes too parched to cry?
I fear for our souls
as I hear the faint lament
of their souls departing ...
mournful, and distant.
How pitiful our "effort,"
yet how fatal its effect.
If they died, then surely we killed them,
if only with neglect.
I think this poem is saying what good your tears if you didnt do anything for them. Like dont be all emoitional and you cant even show no action in trying to help.Saying people show no effort. When effort is showed what the purpose because they die.
Yea drew its pretty sicking, but the bad thing is that this stuff really exist. It not like there are talking about fiction things. This is real life.
ReplyDeletemy absolute favorite poem was the very first one by Michael R. Burch and it was called "A Child's Epitaph." it reads "i lived as best i could, and then i died. be careful where you step: the grave is wide." this particular poem touches me and scares me at the same time. i believe he is infering that he died doing the best he possibly did but it wasnt enough.
ReplyDeletea few of you guys talked about "A Child's Epitaph," and i thought that was a really good one too. he talks about how you have to "watch your step, the grave is wide," i think he is saying that there are so many ways you can be killed and you have to be careful not to fall in the grave that so many other have. all he can do is try his best.
ReplyDelete"I Shall Not Care" By Sara Teasdale [1884-1933] "when I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out rain-drenched hair, I shall not care.
ReplyDeleteI shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful When rain bends doen the bough, And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted Then you are now." so I like it because if things don't work out between me and the people I do care for but don't care for me, whenever I die if I do before them then its like getting back at them as they were with me if they regreat there choices before.
I really like this poem because I know that there are some people in my life that don't really care for me that I really care for and it was saying when am dead "I shall be more silent and cold-hearted than you are now"
Neglect
ReplyDeleteby Michael R. Burch
What good are your tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is your concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?
What good, the warm benevolence of tears
without action?
What help, the eloquence of prayers,
or a pleasant benediction?
Before this day is gone,
how many more will die
with bellies swollen, wasted limbs,
and eyes too parched to cry?
I fear for our souls
as I hear the faint lament
of their souls departing ...
mournful, and distant.
How pitiful our "effort,"
yet how fatal its effect.
If they died, then surely we killed them,
if only with neglect.
I feel like this is a great poem to express how I am feeling. I feel like if everyone just showed that they cared a little more and tried to help others out in there time of need the world would be a better place. I know that God helps those who helps them selves, but I also know that one person is only able to do so much.
I'm Mike Burch, the poet who put the page together and wrote two of the poems. I'm glad to see this lively conversation and I encourage everyone to do what they can to help the people of Darfur. We also have poems on Haiti, the Holocaust, the Nakba (the Holocaust of the Palestinians), and similar topics at www.thehypertexts.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks for appreciating my poem
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike
Amitabh Mitra
http://www.amitabhmitra.com
http://www.amitabhmitra.blogspot.com