Those Who Were Washed Away
Fremont, CA
2024, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Blown to becoming and earthed by yellow dust and floodlight Sun
Hindrance born and bloomed since of wakes of such indifference
As derelict, as dense, as nescient as they convinced themselves to be
Her waling call acquainted with a souls response: forthcoming
Battered and bruised, torn and tormented, misused and misread
She forgave and lamented her song, they shoulder. Her love persists.
a Mother’s unconditional fawning tested by Her progeny’s penchant,
But She responses with jasmine, rain, Her undying wish to augment
their response but recognize or regard, they only sunder and suppress
Only to cast away into Her great deep, left but a wreckage in return
Denied of Her melody, so brisk to have stolen Her jewels and chorus
Yet She’d wagger no war, willing yet limp, persistent yet unarmed
We are our own from Her, they say. We are to concur Her, they say.
Her sea-green eyes, Her earthy brown mane, Her stretched open arms
Her undying wish to flourish, acquainted with their ignominy, for
his guv’nor depraved and venal, and hungry with unremitting desire
Corrupted Her blue with his red, Her fleece with his open flame
Her flora with his flotsam, Her song with his choleric, forte screech
Such eyes undulate in the depths of sorrow and suffrage, woeful
Such locks of fibril entangled in defeat and deposition, wobegone
Her nephilim devour Her fruit, thankless and impudent to Her grace.
Then fallen from their utopian where they once roamed with reverence
Now standing in the abyss of their arrogance, the grounds of their gage
Separated themselves from Her benevolence, convinced themselves of
autonomy and autarky. preached, discourteous of their dependence to Her,
thought to Her ranges, to Her seas, to Her landscapes, to Her melody
But, in spite of such arrogance, in spite of such demise and disgrace
Arised an era of hope and new faith, children of the desert Sun
Children of the middle seas, washed away from their predecessors
In search of radiance and luster, escaping darkness and disdain
Souls in pursuit of their Mothers calling, her song reverberant and floral
Echoing in spite the clashing of sound of their demagogue’s decrees,
Children of the Sun and the seas, arise against their forefathers will.
To relieve their Mother of the burden She forebears, defiant and set
Children of the sands and the mid-East, stand courageous and stalwart
A lionheart aflame in your chest, beating, yearning, for nature’s call
Witnesses to the derelict and disbandment of the Creations beyond,
Your animosity and abhorrence for those who dishonor Her Dame
We set the precedent, they say. We, successors of Her fortune, they say
To restore what She lost and recover what was outcasted, they refuge
To have unveiled Her beauty, to relive Her from those sores and gashes;
Discerned of their dependence, for Her prosperity ordains their peace
Unified; they stand.
Separate; sunder themselves from the elitist, in pursuit of Her mantra
For they, and their Mother, and Her branches, all bounded and converged,
all extend with the Sun’s blaze, all roam and wander the lands beyond
Her past is their present, their future is Her visage; fortunes intertwined
Not only but a Mother, more a life, more a breath, blown their becoming
They set a sail for sacrifice, for no child can ignore a Mother’s weeping
No Mother can bare a child’s whimper, She bloomed aflame and lush
And Her suffrage disfigures the believer’s spirit, dancing to her tune
Orchestrating Her resurgence through choreography, a renaissance
Revelation in spite of the indoctrination, not a mandate can reconcile
Setting the precedent for their warden’s replace, their declare heeded
Their trial marked into the testament of history, reread and rousing
Resetting nature’s course, sailing through uncharted waters and seas
Revenging Her sanctity, hallowed Her soils, mend the fragmented skies
Against the thirsts of his headmen, testing the temperament of their desire
Now renowned and remembered for Her liberation, unfettered and afloat
For us, they never to be forgotten, Her flame, Her freedom, their credence
Their devotions, flowed throughout and beyond Her terrains and oceans
Tales to be passed, stories to be retold, souls to be ignited, and Her gratitude, rendered fruitful
Reflection
I have always been interested in Arabic poetry and literature since I find that the Arabic language articulates concepts and themes in a unique fashion different from English, but as beautiful and nuanced as Arabic poetry may be, often, Arab writers and poets emphasize a distinction between man and nature, that humanity is separate from the natural world. I personally find this concept flawed, since humanity comes from nature—we are a part of Earth and all its essence. In my poem, Those Who Were Washed Away, I wanted to articulate that as much as humans try to separate themselves from nature and distinguish themselves from the environment, we are always affected by nature, and our actions are always a response to the changes in our natural surroundings. And as much as Arabs attempt to epitomize the independence of humanity to nature, climate change has actually catalyzed one of the most significant events in the Middle East—The Arab Spring. Though climate change did not necessarily cause the Arab Spring, there are many climate related stressors that have expedited the situation through underlying causes, such as water and food insecurity. Those who were advocating and protesting for their rights during the Arab Spring were inadvertently also advocating against the climate crisis, and the Arab Spring had actually resulted in more sustainable development solutions in Middle Eastern countries. The actions taken by those who allowed climate awareness to advance in Arab countries had inspired me to write this poem, for even by advocating for their personal liberties, they were also advocating for climate justice. I wrote this poem in an effort to bridge the gap created between nature and humanity, emphasizing that even when humanity tries to ignore the climate crisis and disregard nature, we will always have propensity to protect the natural world, for it is the reason of our being.