ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Wrote this for a submission another group had organized to be sent to the people of Japan to show support in their troubled times, but then came across the video that has been released supposedly to calm any fears that Japanese children have about the nuclear reactor damage.

So are we the western world over reacting? Or are the Japanese people (and for that read Government officials) trying to do a snow job??

Here is the poem

STAY STRONG.


We watched in horror as we saw the flood of devastation
rise from the ocean depths and sweep across a sister nation.
With one fell swoop we saw the carnage on our screens displayed
and for once all souls united, and the whole world watched and prayed.

The toll on human life there has not yet been ascertained
but the toll on human spirits from their faces can be gained.
There are no words worth the saying; there are no words to describe
the horror wreaked by nature right before our very eyes.

Across the world this year we’ve seen the Mother vent her spleen,
and yet somehow there’s been help and rescuers quickly on the scene.
They come from nations near and far and others in-between,
offering their stricken brothers aid. Now the whole world must convene.

For there is no quick six minute fix, but months and years or more,
to resolve the problems of Japan – could even be a score.
But the trials and tribulations their nation face today
will be borne no doubt with fortitude as is the Asian way.

But do they know they’re not alone? For others understand,
as we to have had our share of floods - and they held out their hand
to lift us when we struggled, never left us to our fate
and that is what life’s all about – it’s just Mate helping Mate.

Nerima is our sister city not all that far from Tokyo
a pretty place – just like our town, although we don’t get snow.
Our thoughts and prayers are sent to friends in Cherry Blossom land.
Stay strong, fear not, all will be well in time there in Japan.

Maureen Clifford © 03/11


and here is the video clip


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXPN4dfB ... r_embedded

Yes I tend to agree with you Marty the pot had definitely gone off the boil...it still simmers and help is still of course happening but headline news it isn't...not any more...and that's life.

But to be fair despite the tragedies we have seen over the past months - the world keeps turning.

Cheers

Maureen

...yeah, I reckon it would be a far better thing if the media just reported everything once as it is, then keep drip feeding information as things progress...or deteriorate so we are informed but not sick to death of hearing the same thing a million times from every media source, then nothing when it goes off the boil.

Agree Ross - it appears to be a western thing.

Just recently read this which I thought was heartwarming.


Something very inspiring to read from Japan.. .

A letter from Sendai

ANNE THOMAS 3/14/2011

published online @ Ode magazine

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.

It's utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,

Anne







10 things to learn from Japan

1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn't fall.

4. THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.