Sonnet on the Death of a Friend
Throughout our lives we have the love of some
Our family, our friends , the special ones
Who help us deal with problems as they come
And share our joys and sorrow as life runs
But one by one they leave, the ones who cared
They leave us crying in the growing dark
Yet we are richer for the life they shared
We are warmed by each one’s cosmic spark
Knowing this, the grief within us calms
The daily dream goes on for you and me
The lamb returns into the shepherd’s arms
The shining drop rejoins the shining sea
Thus those we knew and loved who now are gone
Prepare us for the final journey home
Falun Dafa
I am not your enemy
you have nothing to fear from me
I see the world in a different way
but there’s room for us both to be
if a stream becomes a river
and the river threatens a town
the river can be diverted
nobody has to drown
the river flows as it always will
it simply goes around
and the people in the city
use the water to bless their town
but, if you try to stem the river
so your water is all there is
the dam may break
and all is lost
can you blame the river for this?
I hear the tramp of boots
in the darkness you banished me to
feel the cold electrodes
and the current surging through
my body’s a twisted ruin
but my spirit is ever true
I am weeping
not for myself
but for China
and for you.
Pete Dashwood has been a writer most of his life and has numerous articles, short stories, technical papers, and regular columns in both technical and Arts magazines to his credit. He has traveled extensively but now lives at home in New Zealand where he is working on a novel about Palestine in the first century.
Featured Image 1: This broad panorama of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies, was taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image released February 8, 2012.
Featured Image 2: “Baton Torture” courtesy of The Epoch Times. The practitioner is abused—sometimes over a few hours—by up to a dozen electric shocks to the face, including the eyes, on the genitals, nipples, and other sensitive body parts.