Sunday, June 22, 2008

Poem: The China Dilemma

It is believed that human have an inclination to memorise people's mistakes. If they can not find the mistakes, they will be waiting time by time until the mistakes occur. Interestingly, if those seem invisible, human tend to argue in negative ways about people behaviour. Below is a poem saying about China in other nations' perception.

A Poem-Published by the Washington Post. A well written piece of poem depicting the dilemma that China has been facing the US and some other nations.

When we were the Sick Man of Asia, We were called The Yellow Peril.
When we are billed to be the next Superpower, we are called The Threat.
When we closed our doors, you smuggled drugs to our open markets.
When we embrace Free Trade, You blame us for taking away your jobs.
When we were falling apart, You marched in your troops and look what you wanted.

When we tried to put the broken pieces back together again, freeTibet you screamed, It Was an Invasion!
When we tried Communism, you hated us for being Communist.
When we embrace Capitalism, you ridicule us for being Capitalist.

When we have a billion people, you said we were destroying the planet.
When we tried limiting our numbers, you said we abused human rights.
When we were poor, you thought we were dogs.
When we loan you cash, you blame us for your national debt.

When we build our industries, you call us Polluters.
When we sell you goods, you blame us for global warming.
When we buy oil, you call it exploitation and genocide.
When you go to war for oil, you call it liberation.

When we were lost in chaos and rampage, you demanded rules of law.
When we uphold law and order against violence, you call it violating human rights.
When we were silent, you said you wanted us to have free speech.
When we are silent no more, you say we are brainwashed-xenophobics.

Why do you hate us so much, we asked.No, you answered, we don't hate you.
We don't hate you either,
But, do you understand us?
Of course we do, you said,

We have AFP, CNN and BBC's...
What do you really want from us?
Think hard first, then answer...Because you only get so many chances.
Enough is Enough,
Enough Hypocrisy for
This One World.
We want One World,

One Dream, and Peace on Earth.
This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.


Adapted from this nice blogspot

Saturday, June 21, 2008

I AM NOT

Muslims! What can I do? I have lost my identity!
I am not a Christian, Jew, pagan, or Muslim.
I am neither an Easterner nor a Westerner,
neither a land nor a sea person.
Nature can't fully account for me,
nor can the whirling cosmos.
I don't exclusively belong to earth, water, fire, or air.

I am not of the invisible-ineffable, nor of the dust
I am not a process or a being.
I am not of this world or the next, and deserve
neither eternal reward nor eternal punishment.
I am not of Adam or Eve,
not of the original Garden nor the final one.
My home has no address; my tracks leave no trace.
I am neither body nor soul--What can I say?
I belong to the Self of the Beloved.

I have laid all "twos" aside:
this world and that world are one.
I search for One, I recognize One,
I see One clearly, and I call the name of the One.
That unnameable One, the breath of the breath,
is the first and last, the outside and the inside.
I identify no one except by "O That... O This!"
I am drunk on the cup of Love:
here-now and everywhere-all-time have vanished.
I can't handle any business except celebration.

If I spend an instant without you,
that instant makes my whole life seem worthless.
If I can win one moment with you,
I will crush both worlds under my feet
as I dance in joy forever.

My Beloved Shams-i-Tabriz, I am living permanently intoxicated:
I have no more stories to tell except ones about drunks and parties.

Jelaluddin Rumi, "The Diwan of Shams-i-Tabriz" based on literal translation of number 31 in "Selected Poems", R.A. Nicholson (1898, pp.124-127), by Saadi Shakur Chisti (Neil Douglas-Klotz), in "Desert Wisdom", pp.173, Harper Collins: New York (1995)