THE KILLING FIELDS
This horrendous Cambodian war-time story,
Ends with Cambodian glory,
Journalists forged a strong friendship within hard cruel times,
It is one of the best movies ever and all so true,
These two men Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran
In the face of horrific adversity
Face death, threats, imprisonment, catastrophe,
Yet together, help and document about a hovering
Communist strategy.
The Vietnam war at an end, enter the Kamer
Rouge group,
Dith Pran, a Cambodian and Sydney Schanberg
From New York,
Cover the incredible madness and tragedy
Of this war, this loathsome, putrid black fog.
They even uncovered acres and acres of
Killing fields, millions murdered, bodies and
Thousands of graves, so many bones
Women, innocent children, imagine the
Terrible screams, crys and moans,
Such a humanitarian disaster,
Which like lava moved faster
Than lightning,
So frightening.
That was in the seventies and for what, China
Wanted Cambodia, not tolerant of political dissent,
Wanted communism to be the order of the day,
No matter how many had to die in one
Or other devastating way.
Another horrifying era in time.
Recently, an invasion against the Israelis, a brutal Palestinian rampage,
A mass killing and slaughtering of the unsuspecting, the innocent,
Rage, terror, disgusting and violent,
But retaliation was quick,
Israel with military strength and precision began the killing
Fields in Gaza of men, women and children who
Were killed in the ongoing war, Israel pledging to
Eliminate Hamas, but hundreds of thousands of innocent
people, especially children, mutilated by
Israel's perpetual indiscriminate bombing, suffered horribly,
Displacement of people is still ongoing, each side fighting,
With conviction and pathos.
All honor goes to a group of young men and women,
Israeli and Palestinian, who together are alerting
And appealing for humanitarian attention,
The destruction, starvation and dying of so many,
Has been devastating, close on half a million dead,
This a mere beginning to all that still needs to be said
As atrocities from both factions will have to be addressed.
Going back, what happened to Sydney and Dith,
Sydney thought it best to leave, he got a whiff,
It was time to go back to New York,
And with him took Diths children and wife,
So they could begin a safe life,
But Dith preferred to linger back,
So he could listen and watch and therefore track,
And document the invaluable comings and goings,
Of the Kamer Rouge Group, wanted to remain
In the knowing.
Sydney was accused of leaving Dith back
In Cambodia in danger, whilst he
Claimed a prestigious prize,
Exclaimed this award was as much Diths’ as
It was his, he returned to Cambodia,
To search for his friend,
Whatever it took, if necessary, to the bitter end,
Couldn’t even think that Dith might be dead,
Or in disguise, being tortured, maybe in prison.
Then one glorious day,
They were re-united , Sydney asked to be forgiven,
Whereupon in the movie, he smiles and two great
Friends embrace whilst Dith gallantly does say,
‘Nothing to forgive’.
John Lennon's song was sung at this film’s ending, Imagine,
Yoko Ono, his wife who was watching the film at the studio cried,
Just what John would have wanted, she said.
The KILLING FIELDS, both the above very sad stories,
Were and are true,
And what does the world do,
Have dinner, and the go to their comfy chair in the lounge,
And turn on their television,
Let’s watch the news they say,
Never care to offer to make tomorrow, a better day.
Copyright ©
Jennifer Proxenos
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