(April 2008 - Reflections on a bus tour to Manzanar, the internment camp of the US Government interning its own citizens during WWII)
By Shakeel Syed
By Shakeel Syed Winding roads
Climbing elevation
Air-conditioned bus
Videos playing
Munching on snacks
Laughs and giggles
Stories and gossips
Everything Stops, ‘every-thing” – at least for me
Still Moments – Silence Amidst Clamor
Yes, we reached the grounds …
Holy Grounds … where
Their humanity was stripped
Their dignity was raped, and
Their honor was robbed … AND
Here we were, with our concerns,
Heat, dust, make shift bathrooms … AND
I wished we would remember to remember the –
Mothers, who experienced their motherhood trampled on
Fathers, who saw their children confined to 10x10 cells – AND
Children, who watched their parents tilling the land, devoid of life
Long seventy years of agony for them – “rewinded”
Short four hours of journey for us – “fast forwarded”
The video of life keeps playing …
Too slow for them, and
Much too fast for us
Barely a moment to pause, reflect … and try,
Just a bit harder … and
Feel their pain,
Suffer their anguish, and
Embrace their sorrow …
Are we?
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