In Memory of May 13

(1) May 1969 : London

The news from the tv

breaks our silent supper

wild thoughts follows

stories of carnage from home:

the toll of dead

the wounded

flames over kuala lumpur

a midnight rush

to telegram

accompanying loved ones

faintly disbelieving
that this should come to pass...

like tinder

all the proud boasts of yesteryears

burn, dissolve

leaving charred ashes

and smouldering fires...

*

Old quiescent fears resurrect

older prejudices surface

to declaim

a racial barricade

shrieking
a trust betrayed

pleading

an anguised rationale

seeking

to preserve a stance

while the nation burns.

*

Yet

in silent anger

between the tears

and the sobs

amidst the stench of blood and corpses

new hearts shall beat

new voices shall sing

pounding

insisting

a larger magnanimity

embracing our common

inescapable humanity

to lead us

to a new higher sanity.

(Tan Jing Quee, 1970)

**

(2) Hidden Hands (after racial riots in Kuala Lumpur)

Once again

History repeats itself

By savage deeds

In a civilized age.

*

Once again

Hidden hands appear,

Seeking the blood

Of the poor and the wretched.

*

Once again

Colour, race, religion and language

Become sharp blades

To use in the carnage

*

It has happened

In every corner of the earth

Where the few eat bread

And the rest sand.

*

It has happened

Where the few clothed in velvet,

Sleep in palaces;

The rest go naked, squeezed into shacks.

*

It has happened

Then Hidden Hands reappear

Spilling the blood of the poor

To cling on to power.

(Said Zahari, May 1969)

****