Poem from When Broken Glass Floats

 

Please Give Us Voice

 

When Broken Glass Floats, a nation drowns,

Descending to the abyss.

 

From mass graves in the once-gentle land,

Their blood seeps into mother earth.

 

Their suffering spirits whisper to her,

“Why has this happened?”

 

Their voice resounds in the spirit world,

Shouts through the souls of survivors,

Determined to connect, begging the world:

Please remember us.

Please speak for us.

 Please bring us justice.

 

~ Chanrithy Him

 

 

 

 

Union College Professor Bunkong Tuon analyzed "Please Give Us Voice" in his sophisticated article ("The Ghostly Presence in Chanrithy Him's 'Please Give Us Voice,'" published in Mosaic: a journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature, Volume 47, Number 1, March 2014, pp 145-160.