The oppressor prays:
“Our
Father Who Art In Heaven,
Imbue
in me strength and will
As
strong as the Jail Cells
To be
armoured against
The
little vermins nibbling
At my
feet;
Give me
strength, I beseech thee,
To
thunder edicts to be followed
As
sheep to the slaughterhouse;
Which rights
have they, the Ingrates,
As to
doubt the timber of my voice?
Don’t
they know after you, I follow?
All I
want is more fire in my bones
A
certain deathliness to my voice
Let me
be the source of terror”
In the
same prayer corner,
The
Oppressed whispers:
“The
Silent One, The Great One,
Though
I be at the shadow of the valley of death
To be crushed
at the suffocating boots
Of my
Earthly Master
Let my
earthly whines be unto you
I don’t
need explosives
All the
pain within me, if I let them,
Can
explode me
My mind
is like an LPG tanker
A
little scratch can detonate my brains
My
heart is soiled with injustice—
A dark
alley of blind rage against men
I have
no prayer skills of a chaplain
So I
will tell you of how depraved I am
Like an
antelope with an arrow on its back
I have
run here, weary and tired and dying
I have
no grace to beat my chest
For I
have no chest
All I
have is a slab of embalmed passions
Nothing
excites me anymore
I will
not talk of freedom, though you grant it,
I will
not pray for power, though you grant it,
I will
not pray for revenge, though my heart seethes,
Your
depraved servant (O, how ill-equipped am I to request)
Yearns
for GRACE to live through
All
your servant yearns for is GRACE
The
injustices of this world are beyond me
Because
I have no mind, resources or skill
To
think of the misery I have been subjected to”
Two
different prayers to the same God
And
God’s mediator, exercising better judgement,
Invites
the Oppressor to the altar
“To
address the brethren”, he says
The
Oppressor has the wits and fluency
Often
quoting the Bible,
The
Eternal Message of Love
Even
for his brethren, the Oppressed,
O, how
prayers unite petitions
A
common cause to the God of Love.
Posts
5 comments:
WOW. This is so powerful. Tell it, kiddo. This is amazing poetry. The image of the antelope with the arrow on his back carries your message well. Oh this old world. What are we going to do with it, my friend?
WOW. This is so powerful. Tell it, kiddo. This is amazing poetry. The image of the antelope with the arrow on his back carries your message well. Oh this old world. What are we going to do with it, my friend?
Each teach.
It is also my biggest concern, Koko. To see a world where all forms of discrimination will be rebuked and humankind partook of their greatness. They have been great once. They could be great once again.
But as I was watching Charlie Chaplin recently on 'The Greatest Speech Ever' posted on Youtube, he said, "As long as men die, liberty will survive". Now, that is optimistic!
Sure, TUG. We could learn a lesson from both of them. Thanks for your thoughts.
Post a Comment
Echoes of the Hills is all about you. I would love to hear your echo...