{"id":1974,"date":"2025-06-12T13:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/?p=8"},"modified":"2025-06-13T02:42:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T02:42:36","slug":"poetry-the-trail-of-tears-and-blood-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/2025\/06\/12\/poetry-the-trail-of-tears-and-blood-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry: The Trail of Tears and Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"46098212fc2f9bee8b0ca8ef084d6029\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5781035789902986\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5781035789902986\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5291051281\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><em>Poet&#8217;s Note: This poem is loosely based on the incident of 12 Nepalese kidnapped and killed by an Iraqi terrorist group Ansar Al-Sunna in August 2004. The 12 Nepalese were trafficked into Iraq by a foreign employment agency as migrant workers. The migrant workers were promised jobs in a hotel in Jordon but were sent to Iraq where they were killed by Islamic terrorists.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Trail of Tears and Blood<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, are you still toiling in the farm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, has the season of plantation ended<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can smell the monsoon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And rain soaked earth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes father, I know our oxen are old<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They cannot pull the plow<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I come back, we will buy young beasts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you don\u2019t have to rant them to trot fast<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have thought their names too,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kale and Sete<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A perfect black and white pair!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mother, we will get a water-buffalo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You nurtured me with your dry breast<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s my duty to feed you milk and rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, I know Bhunte loves rice with butter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though he has never tasted it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I saw a nice pair of shoes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the supermarket stacks<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought of you father<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you still wearing worn out shoes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given by the landlord?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mother, your hands and feet are cracked<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps this cream will heel you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since a year a two,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, you were asking for a red sari and a blouse<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will surely look gorgeous in this pink lipstick<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bhunte, my dear boy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will look like an American in this hat<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No, I won\u2019t bring you a gun, even if it is a toy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my dream I see you riding a bicycle<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And going to school<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You must study<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be nice to your mother<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for a while you must endure master\u2019s brutalities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your papa will bring lots of money<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you won\u2019t have to tend master\u2019s animals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, I see your redden eyes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can hear you coughing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps we can install a bio-gas plant<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that you don\u2019t have cook in fire-wood<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And clean charred kitchenware<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every night you cornered Bhunte<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And crawled beside me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I feel your moist flesh<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your warm breath<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the morning Bhunte\u2019s surprised face<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Made me happy when he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was sleeping between father and mother<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How come I\u2019m in the corner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bhunte, in this autumn festival<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will sacrifice a goat<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And take blessing from the Goddess<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And will be thankful for all the things she has given to us<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, you can eat meat to your heart\u2019s content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be no need to suck<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Left over bones from the master\u2019s kitchen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Miles of sand before my eyes makes me dizzy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then I see you mother walking towards me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An earthen water pot on your head<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, I remember my promise<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will buy a piece of land<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A hand pump in the yard<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You won\u2019t have to walk a mile to get water<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, we will have our own house to live in<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Out roof will leak no more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will have bed and mattress to sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your back will pain no more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mother you sold your gold nose ring<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, you sold your silver bangles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, you mortgaged our land<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To send me here in the Arabian Peninsula<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had never in my life seen so many bank notes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of thousand denomination<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will have diamond studded ring on your nose, mother<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, your bangles will be made of gold<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, we will reclaim our land<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even buy that farm we sold when mother was sick<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, my back burns<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had never imagined the sun could be so hot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I miss your caress<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though your palms are rough<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bhunte, I\u2019ll bring you chocolates<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No-no don\u2019t eat that half sucked chocolate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Master\u2019s son gave to you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, I will buy you cigarettes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\u2019t have to collect stubs<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take out the tobacco<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wrap on a dry leaf and smoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mother, I wish we could talk on telephone<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last time when I had called<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Master\u2019s wife scolded me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saying she is not my servant to run errands<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, you had promised me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will not cry<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what is this, the pillow is wet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bhunte, when I come back<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll enroll you in a school<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where they teach ABCD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The English medium school<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will sit next to our master\u2019s children<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wear clean clothes like them<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, I see you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mother, I hear you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suntali, I smell you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bhunte, I feel you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though my blood is drenching the sand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three shots were fired<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did not see their face,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did not recognize their language<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was I America\u2019s accomplice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did I help the United States by tending camel in desert?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I even did not know I was in Iraq<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought I was in Jordan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To fulfill a simple dream<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To feed my family two course meal!<\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poet&#8217;s Note: This poem is loosely based on the incident of 12 Nepalese kidnapped and killed by an Iraqi terrorist group Ansar Al-Sunna in August 2004. The 12 Nepalese were trafficked into Iraq by a foreign employment agency as migrant workers. The migrant workers were promised jobs in a hotel in Jordon but were sent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2339,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/2339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinaya.com.np\/theword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}