with an event this MASSIVE... it sometimes takes a detail

[nostamj]

to bring it into a focus that one can embrace.

this was SO true of 9/11, esp. if you were in NYC. it was TOO big, TOO incomprehensible, and THEN you saw all the flyers, all the missing individuals... and then there was a scale you could embrace, could just weep over.

and so, I was watching the CNN coverage and heard this little bit about a 4yo that spent two days in a tree... 4yo. and, it just hit me very hard. esp. knowing that there are 100s of thousands of inviduals just as affected in their very unique and personal way.

I'm not ready to write about the event as a whole, and may never want to touch it. but, on a smaller scale...


a four year old boy survives for two days in a tree following the Indian Ocean tsunami

Two days in a tree–
This is not the world I knew.
I am four years old.

Where is the sea's smell?
Dead rats make a stink like that.
I am four years old.

I am four years old.
She always had time for me.
Tell her I'm not lost.

Two days in a tree–
I thought I heard birds crying,
But heard friends crying.

Tell her I'm not lost–
After two days in a tree,
Now, I'm in a bed.

I am four years old–
And I can only tell them
The name I answer to.

I am four years old–
Should I smile for the bright lights?
Do I have more tears?

Tell her I'm not lost
And surround me with cousins
While I'm in this bed.

It stinks, underneath.
Outside of the room, rats rot.
Where's the sea's smell?

Two days in a tree–
This is not the world I knew.
I am four years old.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. beautiful

brought tears to my eyes.

[nostamj]

4. thanks. this thread will die quickly

and I wanted to thank you.

it was one of those things that just appears with a bang! and you can't ignore them... just insisted to be written and right away.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. You are most welcome

n/t

[nine23]

2. Ditto...

I think this belongs in the DU "Writer's Group" (or similar) so it may live on.

Peace. Thank you.

[nostamj]

3. thanks. I will

post in the Writers forum (but, it's really pretty dead there)

and, I already have it in my blog.

[shadowknows69]

6. you a$$hole I'm crying

:cry: but it was worth it.

[nostamj]

7. sorry about that...

i hadn't either but...

[David Zephyr]

8. Thanks.

It's the children that always suffer the most. Thanks.

[nostamj]

13. or,

it's the children that always make us suffer the most.

thanks fo the 'thanks' David. appreciated.

[heidiho]

9. Cry, the beloved country, for all of the children

the nameless children who lived and maybe the lucky ones who have died.

Children, many of whom had lives of poverty and desolation, now facing a life even worse. Their loved ones, scooped up and buried like yesterday's garbage.

Thank you for your poem. It touched me deeply.

I cry for this beloved country who has billions for death and destruction but little to save the children of the world.

Sad, so sad.

[nostamj]

10. "billions for death" INDEED

sad and shameful. utterly shameful.

[Pastiche423]

11. So beautifully, achingly sad

You have such a wonderful talent, Jeff.

[nostamj]

12. oh my....

high praise indeed. thanks so much.

[SidDithers]

14. Kick...

For a year I've been kicking your (much appreciated) cartoon threads. I'm honoured to be able to do it again for you now. I've got a 4 year old son of my own. Imagining what this little boy has gone through, and what he must be feeling, is almost too much to bear.

Sid

[nostamj]

15. i hear ya... spent Christas with my 4yo nephew

can't imagine him in the middle of such hell.

[Catchawave]

16. Oh my....that was sweet...and

...I remember that little boy from the news. I heard this morning he was reunited with his parents :bounce:

Also that 20-day old baby on the mattress is back with her parents too!

We need more of these stories right now because thinking about the magnitude of this tragedy can make one's heart explode!

[nostamj]

17. that's great news!

I had not heard the story yet.

don't recall a 20-day old baby, there was a 20-month old toddler from Sweden but last I heard his mother was still among the missing.

[Catchawave]

18. Here's the news link :)

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw1104314581745S163

[nostamj]

19. thanks. totally missed that story. n/t

[Catchawave]

21. Hopefully...there are many more like it :) n/t

[nostamj]

23. sadly, no matter how many there are...

they will be the tiny exceptions to the overwhelming losses.

over 120,000 now and they're still counting. if there are significant disease outbreaks....

[LWolf]

20. Beautiful.

Thank you.

[nostamj]

22. quite welcome

glad you liked it. it was just one of those poems that INSISTED on being written. thought it was going to be a quick haiku but...

[Catchawave]

24. I nominated this topic for homepage :)

Just wanted you to know that :hug:

[nostamj]

27. much appreciated! poems don't have much lasting power

here on the very busy GD, but I didn't think it would reach many people if I only put it on the Writing forum....

[nostamj]

28. unfortunately, the Admins don't seem to be around

nothing added to homepage since yesterday late afternoon...

:shrug:

[LWolf]

25. I have a 4 year-old grandson.

He has endured, in a totally different context, his own recent upheaval and disaster. I couldn't help but feel his pain as well as that radiating from around the world.

The numbers are staggering; too many to comprehend, until you narrow it down to just one small 4 year-old.

May we, along with the rest of the world, act with empathy.

[nostamj]

26. as I posted above

I have a 4yo nephew which is certainly a reason the story had a special, specific meaning for me.

[nostamj]

29. one more try

[proud patriot]

30. For me it was the 5 week old found alive floating on a mattress

amazing

[nostamj]

34. did you see the one about the mom

who had to let go of one of her sons or risk losing both? (with the father watching from an upper story of the hotel)

she let go of her older child but, thankfully, they all survived.

[Tinoire]

31. Beautiful Nostamj

What DU needs is a poetry section to preserve all of these. So many talented poets and artists here... You, Noiretblu... Wow!

Thank you for sharing that

[nostamj]

33. thanks! I am planning a lit magazine

that will certainly draw from DU talent. (among others!)

[Tinoire]

37. Awesome! Make sure I know. I love poetry n/t

[nostamj]

38. i promise that DU will know when it comes out n/t

[OhioBlue]

32. thank you for your poem

we should all think about that 4 year old.

[nostamj]

35. well, it's a start,

[Cuban_Liberal]

36. So beautiful, yet so sad.

Thank you for sharing that with us.

:hug: