Saturday 21 January 2012

Lady of the Lake





the wooden fence waits,  
as the red hibiscus flowers bloom


rain water dulling its sheen 
from golden young to grey old  


harsh sun splinters wide-eyed
hollows to deep grooves and lines


weaving days and nights into years,
while waiting for the green light 


or maybe the white star we saw
when we drank rice wine with fish and chips  


or maybe the white peacock we passed
walking hand in hand, east and west entwining  


i wrote and recorded a love poem just for you,    
and wore my country's native dress, the colour you love


as i choose not to cross the border and stay 
where my soft voice is steel and sword 


every morning, i pluck the single red flower  
and tuck it behind my ear


i know you will always be 
waiting for me at the other side of the lake    




Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics : Borders  hosted by Claudia Schoenfeld.   
My inspiration for this post is the life story  of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.   

" That 1995 visit was the last time Michael and Suu were ever allowed to see one another. Three years later, he learnt he had terminal cancer. He called Suu to break the bad news and immediately applied for a visa so that he could say goodbye in person. When his application was rejected, he made over 30 more as his strength rapidly dwindled. A number of eminent figures – among them the Pope and President Clinton – wrote letters of appeal, but all in vain. Finally, a military official came to see Suu. Of course she could say goodbye, he said, but to do so she would have to return to Oxford.

The implicit choice that had haunted her throughout those 10 years of marital separation had now become an explicit ultimatum: your country or your family.  More ~ "

picture credit:  here


15 comments:

  1. not familiar with aung san suu kyl but will check her out...how much she must love her land...i like that you brought in such details like rice wine with fish and chips..makes it palpable and real

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  2. wow what an inspiring story...def great job on the textures with this...i will see what i can find of their story as well....

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  3. Inspiring, but this saddens me greatly. I do believe they will see each other on 'the other side of the lake.' Sometimes life is SO hard and unfair.

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  4. Thanks Brian and Claudia. She is an inspirational leader under house arrest all these years. Famous in Asia like what Mandela has done before. If you click on her name, you can read a bit of their life story.

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  5. Wow an inspiring story indeed, such a decision as well. But you are correct, one day on the other side of the lake we shall see.

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  6. A heart-wrenching love story here. I do agree they'll be united once again... in a better place.

    http://lkkolp.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/who-cares-about-whats-that/

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  7. What a bittersweet story. Thanks for sharing it - and telling it in your own voice.

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  8. Fascinating personalities here, Heaven--and how terribly unfair our world is.

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  9. A beautiful poem. The footnote an inspirational true story that moves all of us.

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  10. Such an incredibly inspiring story - but your poem is a stand-alone thing of utmost beauty. I see a poet well in control of her art.

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  11. Oh my gosh, the story is chilling. Can't wait to read more about them.

    I love this part of your poem:

    "i wrote and recorded a love poem just for you,
    and wore my country's native dress, the colour you love"

    Thank you for providing the backstory.

    ~Shawna
    rosemarymint.wordpress.com

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  12. Wow! What a background story and very eloquent poem. Wow!

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  13. simply beautiful.

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