Their Everlasting Night
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I attended a presentation about the "Comfort Women". I had been aware of these horrific events but was moved by the presenters and their youthful innocence delving into such a heinous aspect of human history. This poem is to honor those who survived and went on to live their lives and bring the truth of their ordeal to light.
Their Everlasting Night
The pain of night returns
carrying with it the horror
of the lost lives of the still living.
The shadows of the headlights,
the sounds of the boots,
the flowered names on the doors
pushed open, the eyes pried open,
the legs forced open by these soldiers
seeking “comfort”.
These Japanese Military Sex Slaves, “comfort women”,
coerced, bribed, abducted and transported
to battle zones to provide “comfort” to
the Japanese soldiers. Children
stripped of childhood, young women
degraded, demeaned, disgraced
at the hands of still unrepentant rapists.
Who will comfort these women now,
in the pain of their everlasting night.
As of this time about 40 still live,
still dread the pain of sunset’s pall
the scent of the darkness.
They are but a few - yet wish to ensure
that the story of the many does not
fade into history’s silent acquiescence.
There is a shame that should be felt,
not by these women, but by all of
humankind, an ache that pierces the
soul of all, a question that must be asked
knowing that we will find no comfort
in the answer.
John G. Lawless
3/4/2015
submitted to – The Pain of Night – Poetry Contest
sponsor – Tammy Reams
Copyright © John Lawless | Year Posted 2015
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