From a Cambodia Bathed in Red
Maybe George Orwell is a prophet and his book the modern Revelation.
A war which became the world’s own Armageddon but Satan isn’t locked up for a thousand years
He has unleashed something a horrible disease that it is worse than E. Bola and an immunity crusher
Squandering humanity, a work with God’s own signature, to an all-time low . . .
I’ve seen a country where the words “Liberty, Legality and Brotherhood” reigned
Until the grip was loosened by gun and sword and later divided into three by a three way country.
Confused in fear, gripped by terror, the Revolution had begun
The taste of the ground stained with blood
The feel of the gun giving orders and the breeze carrying shrapnel and plaster
The sounds of babies crying, mothers screaming and the “Chosen Khmers” yelling with no humanity
The smell of gunpowder and the heat hitting the ground and caked blood
The sight of one which both man and camera do not want to relive and revive again but must
The sense of being deprived of life, material and non-material.
The year zero is unleashed.
The indoctrinating of children
Children holding the guns with the same facial looks and determination as an adult would
Children being preached and preaching the hidden comfort and the real pain of this “Khmer savior.”
Children joining something they individually can’t comprehend
And in turn sacrifice their childhood for a taste of adult authority.
Repentance is offered
Forgiveness is bestowed
Renewal of life is given to everyone and anyone
To can step up and pledge to themselves
God set before life and death and the decision they made was a mirage life path
And led to death with a purification of blood using the filthy cloths.
Is there trust? (Tell me now) Is there love? (Let me feel that) Is there compassion? (Let me be a witness) Is there a place with God’s creation? (Let me see it) Where is God? (I want to feel his presence) Where is humanity?
In a country where they bathed themselves in red, humanity can be found
They are found with their fire never being quenched and their worm never dying.
The blood, life and existence of the innocents are found in the Killing Fields.
Date of First Draft: around January 1997
Information: This was submitted but failed to be published on Wings, the literary magazine for Herndon Middle School.
Influence: The Killing Fields (both movie and soundtrack)
Annotations: “…fire never being quenched and their worm never dying” is a reference to Isaiah 68:24