A dear friend asked me yesterday, what will you take home from Cambodia? Today these words come tumbling out, fast and furious. I could edit it but I don't want to. Better to give you the raw unfinished rough draft, a from the heart flow …
Cambodia
So many smiles mask so much pain.
So much gold, so much dirt.
Gold Towers, evictions, Lexuses, rape,
Swimming pools & sewers where children play.
White sand islands, plastic bags,
Coconuts palms, foreign owned.
Colourful weddings, music and lights!
Bride unrecognisable. Woman in chains.
Make-up that hides her soul.
Glinting green rice paddies, warm russet earth,
Yellow afternoons.
Sunsets that bathe a whole city in red.
Monks swathed in orange, photographed daily. Fed by the poor. Faith uncertain.
Mangoes and jasmine, cyclos and street kids.
So many smiles. So much pain.
What will I take home with me from you, Cambodia?
Scents and impressions of all of this. Branded into my soul.
And more.
Healing, love, art and peace
Destiny found and embraced
Humility, outrage and hopelessness
Hope, patience, empathy and light.
Flow, grace. Nightmares and dreams.
Tolerance for dogs and music and traffic
Yearning for space and tears and passion
A desire to see something here change
The fear that nothing will
Friends, forever, deep in my heart.
Soul touched. Soul love.
Bella! Conceived and nurtured from nought to two. Naked and free, loved everywhere.
Jemima, already five! Wise and beautiful, loving and strong.
James, closer every day. Forgiving, brave and true.
Loving, warm and trusting. Open hearts, open lives.
Cambodia embraced us all.
How can I leave?
How can I stay?
Trust. Trust and let go.
For more rough poems click here
Sunday, December 6, 2009
What will I take home from Cambodia?
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3 comments:
Wow this is bang on and beautifully written. We have lived in Cambodia for 4 years and this country is such a dichotomy. I just found your blog and wish I had found it earlier.
Good luck with your return home and new adventures.
Thank you! Here is to new adventures indeed. And I wish you well for the rest of your time in Cambodia x
I am sitting here with tears running down my face as I read your poem about what you will take from Cambodia and about you leaving there. Yes, I cry easily too, but it is such beautiful writing and so touched me. How I wish I had made the time to keep up with your blog. You are such an inspirational person and I know I would have found so much there to help with some of the everyday and not so everyday stuff we all deal with.
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