dedalus Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 This world, awash with words, Offers no peace: the lease On the life of an orphan child Runs out in sixteen weeks. That’s when the boys die. Girls tend to last a little longer. We are fortunate people, dear friends. The gods indeed have smiled upon us. We can afford to throw a few coins To Sister Wu-Jen, help her with Relief. Relaxations. Chuckles. Good-natured rooting around in pockets. The clink of copper and silver. Catholics, are they? – Sorry? Well, are they Catholics? I’d rather give money to the C of E. But the C of E, Tusker, Does nothing. Don’t like damn’d Jesuits. They are not Jesuits, Tusker. Papists. Same bloody thing. Matter of principle. The children are Chinese. They are starving. Do you think they worry About the 39 Articles? Should do, if they want my money. Quote Drown your sorrows in drink, by all means, but the real sorrows can swim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Your poem sent me googling, and I found this: Shanghai massacre of 1927. I'm curious to who the narrator is. I presume it's one who's sympathetic to the purge. Tony Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedalus Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 The international business community was largely unaffected by the massacre which was a Kuomintang purge of communists, but the times were unsettled and became more so in the following decade. Many Chinese lived in appalling conditions while the well-off Europeans living in palatial mansions affected to ignore the misery all around them. This callousness and indifference lies at the heart of the poem. Quote Drown your sorrows in drink, by all means, but the real sorrows can swim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David W. Parsley Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Devastating indictment. And all it does is tell the truth. And I have to ask myself what qualifications do we now demand of the needy. - Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsen M. Callirhoe Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 reminds me of the movie "'sand pebbles" which depocts the growing communist party rally the youth. go figure that communism would take grasp of russia and china. with china's need for oil growing they might become a democratic societry. hey maybe the world of a upotic uphorea type society is not to far off yhe horizon. victor michael Quote Larsen M. Callirhoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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