I.
The people of China in ancient times,
Knew good was blessed and evil was punished,
By Gods who observed all of their actions,
When they were virtuous their country flourished.
For five thousand years they led their lives,
Their history replete with much glory,
But when the last dynasty came to end,
China became a different story.
When the twentieth century started,
A red dragon rose from an evil pit.
Trying to destroy China’s legacy,
Faith in the divine it would not permit.
People’s lives were cast into darkness,
Mistrust and corruption infected the land,
Lives were lost, a legacy destroyed,
By the governments malicious command.
But the Gods still watched from heavens above,
Witnessing China’s destruction and plight,
They knew this evil must no longer rule,
And the wrong must be set right.
II.
In May of the year nineteen ninety-two,
Falun Dafa was made known to mankind.
It taught to be true, good and to endure,
It transformed the corrupt Chinese mind.
The disciples bloomed like golden flowers,
The practice was quick to spread far and wide,
All saw the power of Zhen, Shan, and Ren*
For it was turning back the evil tide.
But the evil, oh how it seethed with hate,
Refused to accept the Gods’ direction,
It could not withstand such righteous people,
Thus, it started a brutal persecution.
With a jealous heart and a poisoned mind,
It desired to root out or crush their will,
And if they stood up for what was correct,
It did not hesitate to maim or kill.
*The three main principles of Falun Dafa, which can be translated as “truth, compassion, and tolerance” or “to be true, good, and endure.”
III.
But the Falun Dafa practitioners,
Were like bright lotus flowers in the rain,
No matter how the harsh wind lashed or stung,
Their faithful and pure hearts withstood the strain.
When beaten and bruised they stood straight and tall,
And treated their captors with compassion,
When their homes and money were snatched away,
They stood tall in an admirable fashion.
The red demon’s crimes became only worse,
As it struggled to keep absolute grip,
It surpassed history’s worst genocides,
The one to blame is its dictatorship.
It began a harvest of the organs,
A new and unseen level of slaughter,
Yet he who kills innocents for profit
Just makes the flames of justice burn hotter.
In all the battles of good and evil,
Those who are villainous can never win,
For the divine are behind the righteous,
Whereas the heinous will pay for their sin.
Dafa practitioners around the globe,
Are exposing this dark persecution,
For all of the crimes it has ever done,
The red regime will face retribution.
This persecution is no modern myth,
It is happening before our eyes.
Will you tell right from wrong?
Or be fooled by Communist Party lies?
Darlene Wolenski is a high school student at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, in Upstate New York.
Featured Image: “Behind the Beauty” by Huimin Wang. Description on Falunart.org: Behind the beauty of this lady is her experience of brutal persecution. How many bloody tears lie behind the beautiful flowers? The artist was illegally arrested and detained in a labor camp in Guangdong province. The products she made in the labor camp included silk flowers and stuffed toys exported to Europe. She worked 15 to 16 hours a day, often through the night. She was deprived of sleep until she met her production quota. She once protested the treatment she received and refused to work. She was handcuffed and hung up for three days. She also witnessed the brutality fellow Falun Gong practitioners endured. Many were beaten, handcuffed and hung with only one toe touching the ground for 40 consecutive days. Prisoners depicted in the paintings are Falun Gong practitioners in prisons and labor camps.
Quality work Darlene. Keep on fighting the good fight and keep on writing your good poetry. There is a soft and yet resolute and stalwart simplicity to it which reminds me of the disposition of the girl in the picture by Huimin Wang. Nice job.