Earthquake
Earthquake in Haiti
The corpses look like they have been flung down from the sky,
rejected by god for being too poor. Broken limbs and stillness in
the dust. There is a groundswell of a cry, a primitive anger that
has nowhere to go, but inwards eating the victims of injustice like
a virulent cancer. We are religious people who do our Ave Marias
and voodoo on the side. We pray to god and saints, so why this
devastation? Long deep trenches, a place for obese bodies, many
with hands stretching skywards as asking why did you forsake us?
And as always the heaven is silent, yet in the absence of hope and
the rumor of an angel is walking amongst the poor blessing them,
there is hope. But more body fall, rejected by the heaven; and our
bishop is dead too. The cry of anguish will tear us apart till we lose
our reason, sink to our knees and pray to a god that knows no mercy;
as cadavers keep falling from an indifferent sky.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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Related quotes
Haiti 2010
Haiti : January 12....2010-02-03....16: 23 hrs
The dreadful Earthquake struck suddenly
That unsuspecting day in January
From Palace to hut the indifferent Quake
Unleash its wrathful fury,
Buildings crumbled like falling leaves to the ground
Killing and trapping the unsuspecting thousands
In its round
Plumes of dust arose in the air
Amidst screams and groans of its victims' fear
Masks of terror and confusion etched their faces
Of victims fleeing for their lives to safer places
Poor Haiti what have you done
To receive such an awful Fate?
poem by Michael Kersting
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The Seismic Event of January12,2010 in Haiti
No reporters could accurately describe
The immense damage or disaster
That took place on January 12,2010.
No poets could express the pain
That our people felt that day
When we were rocked so bad.
No artists could precisely sketch
The enormity of this earthquake
Where dark clouds had covered
And sucked the air out of the whole country.
No priests, pastors, imams or rabbis
Had enough words or knowledge
To preach about this event
Without becoming speechless at the end.
Haiti got hit, our poor Haiti
Our ill-prepared Haiti Thomas
Got startled by a powerful earthquake
About 250,000 human beings got killed.
No pond could sustain
Such a potent geyser of tears
The whole nation was drowning in fears
The world cried and felt our pain.
Since the beginning of time
It has never been easy to be Haitian
Even when Haiti was in her prime
Her children had to fight like supermen.
Haitians had to strive to survive
Haitians had to struggle to stay alive
Haitians were born to be strong and valiant
Haitians, at dawn, learned to be brave and resilient.
No other people have suffered like us
No other nations, countries or clans have lost
So much, because we never had enough
We were raised to be tough, we had to be rough.
No scientists could mathematically
Measure the anguish and the miseries
That our people have endured in the last five centuries
And specifically within the last five decennies.
No writers could convey the true nature
And the origin of our sorrow
Only time and tomorrow
Can soothe and smooth our pain and suffering.
No one could really console us
We never had enough and had lost so much
Haiti Thomas got rocked badly, that’s very bad
Haiti got hit hard, that’s obviously very sad.
poem by Hebert Logerie (12 January 2012)
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But I think it's very key that there's a plan for Haiti. And we have to begin to - as progressives and people who are concerned about Haiti and have been concerned about Haiti, we have to begin to build some sort of consensus, a movement around the Haiti that the Haitians envision.
quote by Danny Glover
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rats (Life Poem)
Stepping through the building site of El Rancho,
The faded glory of the best hotel in Haiti once.
I think of “Old Times” when this was Paradise,
And a Rolls Royce collected you at the airport.
A seedy casino, neglect, an earthquake later,
Rats the size of cats show you to your room,
And “home from home” this is definitely not,
Everything turns to dust in the end, it seems.
Even us.
poem by Ian Beckett
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Everyday killer
everyday people
doing everyday
things
driving your cars
gettin on the train
it all contributed to
this horrible disaster
the average person
a murder
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic disater
killing loads of innocent people
and more people are homless
with no where to go
some children are parentless
because of the quake
orphans
cut your pollution
and save peoples lives today
for the people in Haiti
poem by Harriett Bishop
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January 2010 Haiti
How sad for Port-au-Prince
~~ The Capital of Haiti ~~
A repeat of the destruction
Which took place back in
The eighteenth century
When two similar quakes
Took their toll on Haiti.
We've seen frightening scenes
On today's television screens
And the whole world will say
An impassioned prayer to help
Haiti overcome the despair.
poem by Joyce Hemsley
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For Haiti I Cry
My heart like a desert
My tears like a river
Shifting sands of sadness
My whole body shivers
I am sick with suffering
I am pregnant with pain
My ruptured heart bleeds
From my eyes flow the rain
Lachrymose! Lachrymose!
Haiti I weep for thee
Your sons and daughters
Have suffered tragic misery
I bawl! Don't ask me why!
For Haiti! For Haiti I cry!
poem by Howard Simon
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I get mad at people who talk about traumatic job interviews, about going on one and getting rejected. I get rejected all the time and not only do I get rejected, but people have no problem being really specific about why I was rejected.
quote by Julia Sweeney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hiding From The Broom!
i walk the paths of stillness
into the setting sun...
in the company of dead poets,
and a few mongrel dogs.
we come to a clearing,
and gather wood for a fire,
waiting on the night spirits to join us.
my hands are broken,
they cling to nothing and no one.
i see with my ears,
and listen with my eyes.
my soul rhymed by darkness
dissolves into dust,
while crickets chant eternity.
i return to an empty house,
curtains pulled, door flung open.
lighting a candle, i sit on the floor,
waiting for death, or morning.
only then i notice the spider,
candlelight tracing the web in the corner.
and in this moment i knew,
of such am i!
a moment, a corner,
my heart just a web...
waiting on love,
while hiding from the broom!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The land of curse
Broken people with broken limbs,
Broken hope, broken dreams,
Here death is the most familiar entity,
This is the land of curse,
Danger lies on every step,
It may open his diabolic mouth,
To swallow up your limbs,
O little children, stay away from this land,
Under it the vampire of Death is sleeping,
Who has taken many lives,
But his hunger is not satisfied,
One more step and he will wake up,
To pounce upon you,
He is the nurseling of the bigger vampires,
Whose self-interests have brought the world
On the verge of disaster.
poem by Mohammad Akmal Nazir
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Earthquake (HAITI)
Sad beyond comforting...
...I see the bodies in the rubbles,
Their souls have gone up and evaporated like water,
Into a slumber, their gentle 'soul sleeps'
Their flesh mixed with concrete and rocks. It gradually becomes dust & dust.
I hope the survivors don't feel forsaken,
Though their loved ones have been taken
By death in disguise with a name-'earthquake'
What did over 50,000 people do to get swallowed by mother earth?
Has she not eaten enough from tsunami yet?
Faiths tested,
Atheists ask,
'where is your God at this very moment? '
Millions left suffering,
The rest of the world are left pondering
and wondering,
Saying,
'It could have been us instead of them! '
'It could have been me instead of him! '
Unconsolable, grieving
Sad beyond comforting,
Bodies upon bodies--: -(
Mother Nature, was thou that hungry?
Every fibre in thy body
is devastingly saddened.
Alas, Mother Nature was thou that angry?
Seemingly shattered and hopeless,
The living and the dead co-exists on the streets of PORT-AU- PRINCE,
Heartbroken, soul shaken;
Ah, I see a skull cracked open,
the brains splattered and spilled all over,
Corpses on corpses all over.
We shall write and sing for the departed, a lot of dirge and elegy
We shall mourn them till' we sap out our energy
Our faces wet like the morning dew: -(
As we mourn & pay to the victims their sincere respect and due.
How I wish I didn't have to write this piece,
Poet Ivy prays you rest in perfect peace.
poem by George Obizulike
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One Broken Heart For Sale
(words & music by otis blackwell - winfield scott)
Who wants to buy a heart
One broken lovers heart
One broken heart for sale
Well, excuse me if you see me crying like a baby
Since she rejected me
Theres nothing left to save me
Hey cupid, where are you?
My heart is growing sadder
That girl rejected me
Just when I thought I had her
She would not listen to the things my heart was saying
She turned and walked away
And told me I was playing
Some guys have all the luck
And my heart hasnt any
I think Ill paint a sign
For sale for a penny
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Prelude
How could I love you more?
I would give up
Even that beauty I have loved too well
That I might love you better.
Alas, how poor the gifts that lovers give
I can but give you of my flesh and strength,
I can but give you these few passing days
And passionate words that, since our speech began,
All lovers whisper in all ladies' ears.
I try to think of some one lovely gift
No lover yet in all the world has found;
I think: If the cold sombre gods
Were hot with love as I am
Could they not endow you with a star
And fix bright youth for ever in your limbs?
Could they not give you all things that I lack?
You should have loved a god; I am but dust.
Yet no god loves as loves this poor frail dust.
poem by Richard Aldington
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Haiti itself was also photographed, some of the streets, some of the mountains, rivers, streams, etc. were photographed before talking with me about how I felt about Haiti. Then the camera went to our voodoo temple and saw a serious ceremony, a real ceremony.
quote by Katherine Dunham
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Paul Farmer has helped to build amazing health care system in one of the poorest areas of Haiti. He founded Partners in Health, which serves the destitute and the sick in many parts of the world from Haiti to Boston and from Russia to Peru.
quote by Tracy Kidder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Story Teller
Now as spring light fades into a softly
blue evening I turn to you and ask,
If you can tell me more?
The river doesn't flow as rapid as
before and the lake is dry, no breeze
blows away dust of broken dreams
if you can tell me more tell it now
before light is an empty space and
stillness has lost its echo.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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Build Back Better! !
Huge red sun rising over Harlem
The pain from Haiti is finally heard
Children have been dying here for years
Each infant death an earthquake of screams
Buried far below our Richter scale
It's time, world. We can stop all this.
We can build back better, we can be
A race with things to be proud of
Worthy of our beautiful red sun
That graces the slums of Kolkota
The bright white yachts of Greenwich
The penthouses of Manhattan
And the ruins of Port-au-Prince.
poem by Frank Bana
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The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador attain liberty, and inspired our forefathers to shed their blood for the United States' independence, cannot die. Today, this spirit of solidarity must and will empower all of us to rebuild Haiti.
quote by Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pride Of Man
Turn around go back down go back the way you came
Cant you see the flash of fire ten times brighter than the day
And behold the mighty city broken in the dust again
Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again
Turn around go back down go back the way you came
Babylon is laid to waste egypts buried in her shame
Their mighty men are beaten down the kings are fallen in the ways
Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again
Turn around go back down go back the way you came
Terror is on everyside though the leaders are dismayed
Those who put their faith in fire in fire their faith shall be repaid
Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again
Turn around go back down go back the way you came
Shout a warning to the nations that the sword of God is raised
On babylon that mighty city rich in treasure wide in fame
It shall cause thy towers to fall and make it be a pyre of flame
Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again
Thou that dwell on many water rich in treasure wide in fame
Bow unto a God of gold thy pride of might shall be thy shame
Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again
And only God can lead the people back into the faith again
Thy holy mountain be restored thy mercy on thy people lord
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pride Of Man
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Can't you see that flash of fire ten times brighter than the day?
And behold a mighty city broken in the dust again,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Babylon is laid to waste, Egypt's buried in her shame,
The mighty men are all beaten down, their kings are fallen in the ways,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
Terror is on every side, lo our leaders are dismayed.
For those who place their faith in fire, their faith in fire shall be
repaid,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
Turn around,
go back down,
back the way you came,
And shout a warning unto the nation that the sword of God is raised.
Yes, Babylon, that mighty city, rich in treasures, wide in fame,
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
The meek shall cause your tower to fall, make of you a pyre of flame,
Oh you who dwell on many waters, rich in treasures, wide in fame.
you bow unto your God of gold, your pride of might shall be a shame,
For only God can lead His people back unto the Earth again.
Oh God, Pride of Man, broken in the dust again.
A Holy mountain be restored, and mercy on that people, that people
song performed by by Quicksilver Messenger Service
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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