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Essay Archive

April 30, 2003

THE SILENT STONE
A Poem from Matagalpa

Foolish existence
Our Gods had pride
In this open chamber
Irony a terminal sky

Why did they abandon us?
Hollow stones
Washed by sun

Running from our future
Hollow stones
Left us frozen in time

Without bitterness
For all we have lost
If happiness meant eternal
Our suffering
Would not have won

So leave us
Forsake us Gods
Be proud
Leave us bathed in ridicule
Leave us with only one

How could the He lose?
With our land His creation
His men divine reflection
Yet His pond's waters lay unstill
Our faces distort His choices
While our hands serve His will

Allow us to kneel before Him
In this rich dark mud
To acknowledge our error
We have learned our sin

Greater than ourselves
We loved the earth and sky
Bring hard rain upon us
We have learned to die

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