(dedicated to a great poet at poemhunter, Mohammed Al-balushi)
a hard rain
dropped last night
minutes to hours
so cold so scary
a reservoir
laid above us
from nineteen thirties
so vast so majestic
O pondering rainy night!
you said hello passionately to us
were you missing your friends here?
we felt that you are a refreshing gift
O great Situ Gintung Reservoir!
you watered tenderly our environment
were you loving your friends from up there?
we felt exactly that you are a relieving present
very long rain and old water resistant
around two until five after midnight
Situ Gintung's badly broken apart
huge water came down very fast
smashed homes, trees, and stuffs
crashed people, old and young
took our all life, rich and poor
separated from beloved ones
we cry for you, sisters
we pray for you, brothers
if a sad thing should happen
it must be happened, my friend
we weep deeply
we scream to the sky
why it must be done to you?
human and nature mourn to you
it reminds us
Flood of Noah
it reminds us
Tsunami of Aceh
it reminds us
to rethink what we've done
it reminds us
to reconsider what we've walked in
O God, who has all heavens, and earth!
Your Love is bigger than Your Anger
O God, who hold our lives and our deaths!
Your Will has happened in that pathetic morning
O God, who has sun, all planets, and all moons!
Your Grace is greater than Your Punishment
O God, who hold thunder, earthquake, and eruption!
Your Care is upon us, upon our sons and our daughters
O God, who has seas, stars, and continents!
Please, be pity on us, on your weakest creatures
O God, who hold wind, water, fire, ice, tree, animal, and soil!
Please, give mercy upon us, upon our fragile hearts, spirits, and souls
(with deepest sadness to Situ Gintung Tragedy on March 27,2009
in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia)
God has practically no hand over man made tragedies. The reservoir was built by man and so has all the elements of man. It must have been weak or the gush of water was beyond its capacity. Even the natural calamities are not so in interpretation if they did not affect man. Tsunami will not be a calamity if there were no inhabitants within the circumfrance of its affection. Nature has its own cycle. All man made edifices have its own strength, weakness, life and decay over which God has practically no hand. What we need is a prayful heart behind our hands. We can only pray for the departed souls.
This is an amazing write Ahmad, thank you for sending me the notice of your posting it. I am glad I was privaleged to read it. It reminds me of a Psalm, in the Bible. A lament but also a Praise. Very nicely done and very emotional bringing awareness where it needs to be. Susan
There is so much sincere compassion in this poem! Yet it is not mere description of emotions, it is deep poetic contemplation/ 10+
i have to read this poem again because it reminded me of the story: One day, a Mr. A asked Mr. B and he said, 'Til when shall you need friends'... with swift, Mr. B dropped a dropp of water to the river and Mr. B replied saying 'Until you find that dropp of water and bring them exactly to me'... nice write as always!
This is a brave call for global warming, climate change especially to environmentalist. A brave call to stop cutting down trees, reforestation is needed, stop using fossil fuels, use organic substances only to avoid further destruction.We need divine intervention but since we're the culprit of all these calamities, then we need the help from the entire world in order to survive.Earth is the only planet, the only home we've got, no other else so let's protect it for God's sake.Well done, pal.
As far as I can remember this is the third time I've read this.Can you wonder I'm an athiest?
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
The thought occured to me that the most surprising thing about your poem is its title. All this began with a dropp of water. Little things are significant and can accumulate or increase or grow, etc. to become more significant in other ways.