Tuol Sleng was once a secondary school in the suburbs of Cambodia's capital - Phnom Penh. It was requisitioned by the Khmer Rouge in August 1975 and turned into Security Prison 21 - though today it is known simply as "The Torture School". Intelligent estimates suggest that around 20,000 people died here - often following horrific ill-treatment and torture. This forgotten and frightened child was one of them:-
I dedicate my poem to him.
Sigh...........will humans ever stop such behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably happening in South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic right now. Our hearts are dark.
DeleteWe've been to this place. It needs to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteYes Mary. It's haunting and if any good could possibly come out of it, it would be a commitment on behalf of mankind that such horrors will never be repeated... but we know they will be - in some shape or form.
DeleteI worked at sea most of my working life. My first language was Spanish. I was never cruel though the people I commanded could be. I came back from the sea to tackle Thatcher. Failed and ran away to sea again'
ReplyDeleteYP. I don't understand this post. Shit does happen and it did in the miners strike. It does in the Congo today, tomorrow and every day. It is for the young to decide. Apps and Prozac will only last so long.
Adrian - All my life I have been fascinated by poetry and since the age of seven I have from time to time written poems. A poem can communicate simply and economically - getting to the nub of things so for me the puzzlement lies in your remark "I don't understand this post". Perhaps you are not as attuned to poetry as I am. I was fascinated to receive the news that you were a seafarer for many years - I didn't know.
DeleteThis poem almost ripped my heart out......and then the picture finished me. If you know these things that happen.....if you witness these things....then you know there is no god.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly MT. No matter what religious apologists might say, no loving God would stand idly by and allow such horror, such inhumanity.
DeleteWhat occurred in those years under Pol Pot and the Kmer Rouge are an indelible blot on humanity.
ReplyDeleteWe humans dare call animals dumb. We should take a good look at own selves in the mirror...and open our eyes while doing so!
Lee - It seems to be that what we call "civilisation" is just a veneer. What happened in Cambodia and what is currently happening in South Sudan and Syria prove that evil happenings could be just around the corner.
DeleteSorry for my typo...I meant to write "Khmer"....I hate bad spelling...and even more so when I'm the culprit!
DeleteI never cease to be disgusted by human behaviour. Humans never learn from the past. They keep repeating and repeating...too blind and ignorant to see or to learn; and they are far too arrogant..
Regarding your last sentence Lee - I hope you weren't thinking especially of me!
DeleteNo...of course, not Yorkie! How could you think such a thing! I doubt very much that you are anything like those to whom I referred!
ReplyDeleteThe Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition to name but a few of the atrocities directly carried out in the name of God (but about human power of course). A loving God? A God that in the Bible not only condones but actively supports the violence against people by people. It's amazing what fairy tales can be used to justify the seeking of power by man over man and keep the masses subjugated. I wish you hadn't started me off. It's a lovely sunny afternoon.
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