Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Wielding Pen Instead of Sword

BBC photo


When one such as he is silenced,
a thousand voices rise up in response.

Rest well, my brother.
Your message still dwells in our hearts.

Darkness at times overwhelms,
till one candle, and then two, 
and then ten, then a hundred
are held up by ones
who will never surrender
our dream of social justice,
of acceptance, inclusion and peace.

Rest well, brother dreamer.
Your light, that shone against darkness,
is held up by ten thousand more,
in your name.

Light one candle, hold it high,
against the darkness.
With every cell of our being,
let us focus all our might
to shift
shift
the transformation of consciousness,
transform the chilling darkness
into light.

For dVerse, where Abhra has asked us to raise our voices against darkness, in response to the savage killing of blogger Avijit Roy, 42, in Bangladesh. Mr Roy's blog celebrated free thinkers and humanists; he was a critic of religious intolerance. His alleged attacker is  a fundamentalist blogger who opposed his beliefs. 

This speaks to all of us who wield pen instead of sword. 


facebook photo



27 comments:

  1. I am lighting another candle with you Sherry ~ This is very moving tribute :

    Rest well, brother dreamer.
    Your light, that shone against darkness,
    is held up by ten thousand more,
    in your name.

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  2. Thank you for lighting the light inhis name, Sherry. You hold it against the darkness rising and I am grateful.

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  3. Beautiful. A candle loses nothing by lighting another..I forget who said that. But hopefully, more lights will be held against the darkness.

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  4. Yes, wielding the pen instead of the sword and lighting a candle against the dark...Bravo!

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  5. all it takes is one candle...and that will light the next...and light gathers light as well...whether by pen...or by voice....

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  6. Sherry, I am not surprised you like the prompt. Smiles. As you know, France was targeted not very long ago. What saddens me is that a few weeks of solidarity are now followed by a lot of hatred and stupidity. It is very depressing.

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  7. Lighting candles, wielding a pen, raising our voices, all bring light to a world desperately in need of it,

    Elizabeth

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  8. Would make a good memorial tribute reading.

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  9. If we all light one candle, just one candle, and lit them....what a beautiful message that would be.

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  10. Beautiful refrain in italics. The world has lost another beautiful soul with a vision - but darkness hates the light so I guess we just need to overpower with more light, I hope anyway.

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  11. lovely words - darkness surrounds us

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  12. I applaud your heart, lighting my candle to the chain of poets gathered at the pub today. My pen cranked out a diatribe, while yours calmly pushed white light into the black belly of darkness.

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  13. If we all hold one candle, lift it high, the darkness will not prevail. Peace, Linda

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  14. It is a beautiful and inspiring piece Sherry - thank you for all the support to Avijit.

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  15. I love tho hope in your words.. Candles are needed and dreams can turn real.

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  16. Ironically as it may be.. terrorists are often
    instigators of freedom.. as the terror rains the fight for freedom grows.. and one day that dark.. becomes light too.. as love reigns in words of love that swords of terror never know in now..:)

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  17. A perfect reaction to gruesome terrorism. For every innocent person killed, tens of thousands mourn and bear witness.

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  18. A beautiful tribute to all those who raise their voices against intolerance. Pen is mightier than the sword after all.
    -HA

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  19. I hope we can all be the candles that light the night. Beuatiful thoughts here Sherry.

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  20. Ahh the pen is obviously more a threat than can be imagined.
    Man is a beast that extinguishes beauty and creative thought.

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  21. All the way, Sherry, for I am a bengali too!

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  22. oh the power of one candle...to ignite a second...and so on and so on.

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  23. A beautiful poem filled with light

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  24. Your words resonate with the brilliance and meaning of the light of which you speak, Sherry...this is a powerful write. ♥

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  25. Sherry... this is a hard-hitting and powerful tribute to Avijit! A thousand more will rise...
    ~Prajakta

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  26. speak, even if your voice trembles, yes? and this action invokes trembling... ~

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