This blog is from Pete, the poet:
One of the places we visited earlier in the week was a huge, man-made dam near Battenbong. It was built by the Khmer Rouge in the seventies to provide irrigation for the dry season so rice could be grown throughout the year, However, due to the long hours of work and poor food many thousands died, One of the CHO team was forced to work on the dam - and survived - so it was quite an emotional return for him (only the third time in 35 years). We were also shown a deep cave high up on a nearby mountain where people were pushed over the edge to their deaths. As you can imagine, this provoked all sorts of thoughts on my part. Here's a poem which tries to sum it up:
Letting Go
I see a lake filled with Khmer blood
Sprinkled with lotus flowers.
The Buddha reclines
In a cave filled with skulls.
Mountain-top views over the Battenbong plains
Where the intelligentsia plunged to their deaths.
Beauty and tragedy are woven together
In this historical tapestry.
Acts of madness and unbelievable cruelty
Co-exist with courage and quiet heroism.
As for the survivors
I do not detect any harbouring of bitter memories
No festering of anger in the hidden recesses of the heart.
Rather a desire to let go of the past and purge the demons
To create hope and healing for the future.
It is the way of bloodless revolution.
It is the way of dignity.
It is the only way to be fully alive.
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