'Tsunami Song': A Poem
Poet Freda Denis-Cooper reads her poem "Tsunami Song" written for all the people whose lives were forever changed by the tsunami in Africa and Asia. Denis-Cooper lives in Durham, N.C.. Her collection of poems is titled Stones Unturned: The Soul Poetic.
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
I'm Farai Chideya, and this is NEWS & NOTES.
Earlier in the show, we heard about the tsunami's impact in Africa one year after it came ashore. Poet Freda Denis-Cooper reads her poem "Tsunami Song," written for those whose lives were forever changed in Africa and Asia.
Ms. FREDA DENIS-COOPER: (Reading) Tsunami, come wash away our sins. Your vengeance is swift and just, unpredictable. No warning can come before you are here. Mothers and fathers buried in watery graves and the innocence of orphans left exposed, extracted like rare essence oils from delicate flowers. No one but you knows our secrets. Tsunami, come cleanse our souls. Children in the light of day and dark of night, bought and sold. Leave no trace of the pleasure seeker who comes for the first time as missionary then, like the boom-boomerang, circles back again, eyes wide for the yum-yum candy. You wash away the venomous sting of the serpent, yet you render more of us helpless. The wages of sin weigh heavy upon our hands. Yet the god of our ancestors gives us comfort in the midst of our storm of sorrow. Tsunami, come wash us once more.
I wrote the poem "Tsunami Song" after the devastating tsunami that obliterated townships in India and Africa. So many children were orphaned and then stalked by sexual predators disguised as friendly tourists, peacekeepers and missionaries. Ironically, the same is happening right here in the United States to orphans of Hurricane Katrina. This poem is a song of hope, a song that we all must sing to bring about justice in this time of despair.
CHIDEYA: Poet Freda Denis-Cooper lives in Durham, North Carolina. Her collection of poems is titled "Stones Unturned: The Soul Poetic."
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