| A Picture of Lee Ying
She wears old clothes she holds a
borrowed handker-
Days on foot with little or no food
the last six days
Three hundred thousand like her must
turn back to
Point of no return is the
caption but this is meaning-
She would not weep if she had reached
a point of no
There is no place for her and no
point for thousands
Their flight from had news to worse
news has caused
Refugees suffer and authorities feel
alarm the press
We know all about the sorrow of Lee
Ying one glance
She must go back where she came from
no more need
Whenever the authorities are alarmed
everyone must
We too know all about sorrow we have
seen it in the
You have our sympathy Miss Lee Ying
you must go
Too had some people get all the rough
breaks the au-
Refugees from China have caused alarm When the authorities are alarmed what can you do You can return to China Their alarm is worse than your sorrow Please do not look only at the dark
side in private
They are only obeying orders Over there is Red China where you
will remain in
There also the authorities are alarmed
and they too
Please do not look only at the dark side All the newspapers in the free world
explain why
You have the sympathy of millions As a tribute to your sorrow we resolve
to spend more
If this were only a movie a boat
would be available
You would lean at the rail with "him"
the sun would
You would marry one of the kind authorities In our movies there is no law higher
than love in real
You would not want the authorities to neglect duty How do you life the image of the
fee world sorry
This is the first and last time we
will see you in our
When you are back home remember us
we will be
|
| ***This poem is by Thomas
Merton, from BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS, copyright
© 1963 by The Abbey of Gethesemani, Inc. Reprinted by permission of New Direction Publishing Corp. 2002-2003 |