COLLAGE FOR THE DEAD
For those killed by the 12/26/04 tsunami

There came a stillness, and there came a storm,
and all the oceans came.
I dig, you dig, and the worms dig too,
and that singing out there says: They dig.

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I was looking at them from another country
And I cannot tell their story.

Show me a word I can use.
Show me a verb.

Let them speak for themselves.

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"My son is crying for his mother,"


"I think this is her," he said. "I recognize her hand."

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To help relief efforts click here.

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Notes: Each stanza comes from the following source:

1) Paul Celan, THERE WAS EARTH INSIDE THEM, and they dug
2) Ariel Dorfman, Vocabulary
3) Bejkhajorn Saithong, Sri Lankan survivor of the tsunami, as reported by Reuters