Will we ever wake up?

by Victor Karunairajan

I stood on the banks of the River of Life
Amazed I watched it endlessly
As meanings flowed and lessons learnt
I wondered as my thoughts meandered
From mountain tops to coastal plains
Why civilizations flowered and floundered
Along the banks of many a river
Over eons of time from creation.

Ganga from the Himalayan heights
Cherished human thoughts and dreams
And sages of old in their meditations,
Conceived God's grace in her flow.

The Tigris and the Euphrates
Caused humankind's great achievements
Even earlier, Indus nourished a greater pride
Until some force let loose its demons
And lost were peoples, many destroyed
But some survived and moved southwards

The snaky rivers of further east
Watered fields and tendered crops
Nations flourished and lands enriched
And God's good earth prospered much.

The melted snow of Alpian ranges
Flowed in directions four and six
Along pastures green and vineyard slopes
Tending life in tiny townships, all so lovely.
Farming life their precious lot,
The Euro-folks raised sheep and cows.

Over on South American land mass
There is hardly much I had learnt
There were Aztecs and other great races
Put to sword by marauding forces
All in the name of God and Empire.
What horible destruction they really were.

Over there in my Sri Lankan home
My thoughts drew many a tear
Where land so green and fertile
Human follies and horrible pursuits
Have pitted people against people
And the rule of gun renders the air
With sobs and wails in their wake.

Will we ever wake, and in wake realize
God created us to make peace
With one and all, wherever we are
As people and nations linked in soul?

[February 26, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian]