In honour of the children who died, and those whose remains were treated so terribly, I've posted two of Martin Carter's poems below. The first is "The child ran into the sea" (1974), and the second is one most of you should know--"You are involved."
THE CHILD RAN INTO THE SEA
The child ran into the sea
but ran back from the waves, because
the child did not know the sea
on the horizon, is not the same sea
ravishing the shore
What every child wants is always
in the distance; like the sea
on the horizon. While, on the shore
nearby, at the feet of every child
shallow water, eating the edges
of islands and continents does little more,
little more than foam like spittle
at the corners of the inarticulate mouth
of some other child who wants to run
into the sea, into the horizon.
YOU ARE INVOLVED
This I have learnt:
today a speck
tomorrow a hero
hero or monster
you are consumed!
Like a jig
shakes the loom;
like a web
is spun the pattern
all are involved!
all are consumed!
