A baby is born and discovers her talents
Slowly—she notices stories in pictures:
The goose will be caught and the kittens will triumph.
'Catholic twins' is the joke that her mother
Has made more than once, for the sisters are equals.
Different, still they compete with each skill they
Accrue—and what one learns the other attempts to
Master: in archery, dance and the names of
Minerals; taking each instant that's frozen
Decision and owning the purpose of living:
Will in the moments of stillness. So goslings
In flight from a litter of catlings are captured
Ever, as prey in that instant of terror;
While felines themselves are enslaved to the cycle:
Blood on the feathers; alone when the playtime
Has ended and yowling beside a full platter.
Older, one sister imagines the kittens
Were punished by parents with beaks; while the other
Thinks that they rolled in the sand by the lakeside
Until they were sleepy; and cuddled together.
“Karen Woo travelled to the remote Nuristan region of northern Afghanistan with hopes of making a difference, with undimmed passion to help others, and with no little trepidation for the physical and mental challenges ahead. One thing she would not have travelled with was a Bible... Our loving and talented daughter/sister Karen Su Ying (Cori) Woo has been tragically taken from us. She was due to be married on her return to the UK. Her motivation was purely humanitarian. She was a humanist and had no religious or political agenda...She was a true hero; whilst scared she never let that prevent her from doing things she had to do. She would not want this tragedy to overshadow the ongoing plight of those still in the greatest of need... Karen, you were an inspiration to everyone you met. You combined brains and beauty, intelligence, drive and kookiness in equal measure. You led an intensely packed and rich life: dancer, model, stunt plane walker, doctor and aid worker…”
– Caroline Davies, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 8 August 2010 22.09 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/08/uk-medic-afghan-murdered-christian-group
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3 comments:
This is very well done, Khakjaan. I'm not sure what inspired the cats and the ducks, nor the part about Catholic twins. Poetic license? The choice to use them is a good one. As symbols they're quite effective, as is the meter you've chosen.
This is a fitting tribute to the memory of a woman whose death came to soon and in all the wrong ways. Very poignant.
...And of course I meant "too" not "to" in the previous comment.
Thanks dude. There was some serious sloppiness in my haste to compose the poem, but I think I fixed it. Switched out some words & modified some lines & forgot to double-check the result.
Glad the theme came through. Thanks for reading.
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