Huang walks with his brotherWe can only wonder at what desire: to speak, to eat, to see, to belong.
To be made invisible, only, in order to be visible from behind the veil.
To be able to hunt satisfaction, of one's own intense true hunger
and love to be known.
"Is that the mouth?
Clamp it,
sew it.
There's the hole.
Are we sewing his ear?"
Woken at four
to grow faster,
left eye blocked,
and faster,
pushed left ear to my shoulder.
While deforming backbone
knocked out my teeth;
and larger, laid into
the palms
of my beautiful hands.
I ornament like none,
in South Eastern China.
Hideous and amazing,
unspoken prayer verses want-to-die.
Hardly able in the simplest thing
like speaking "of the burden I have been"
from ever keen awareness
a burden to my family,
Yet
love words for my ear...
"Have some of my soup brother"
Gratitude spoons
to hungry opening hole.
I've carried my face beside me,
from the province
Hunan.
Is this where I lay
my table?
"Is that the mouth?
There's the hole.
Are we sewing his ear?
There's so much blood.
Tell the blood bank
he needs more;
clamp it
sew it
blood pressures good."
"My face
will never be normal.
If I can live
a little longer
I can fulfil
my greatest wish...
I can be a dutiful son."
Please let us remember gratitude; in these showings of invalidity,
our victim-hoods so easily adorned excuses to paint all black.
Blessed with one's existence, though awe struck,
our relative gaze on horrific, common's our failure to reconcile.
The ability to witness, judge and space to do so, is nothing but pure gift!
Author notes
Huang Chuncai was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis and received his second operation to lessen his once 50 pound tumor from his face. This year of 2008.
This story was covered by a Channel 4 team and the images are from the same source. Thank you Channel 4.
This is a link for more information about his story :
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/B/bodyshock/elephant_man/programme/elephant_man.html
A contest entry
- BIG POINTS….Tons of Options (Fresh Writes Only) by jamiedoring.
2750 points, ended April 30, 2008, 26 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Welcome any sincere responses.
Comments
1 - 59 of 59
-
a late veiw
to read this speaks volumes for those who do not conform to the conventional definitions of beauty, I remember the child you wrote about and wonder how it must of felt to live this way, I am going to re look for I think I remember that he was not operated on? Thanks you for speaking for this child and all the others who do not fit the norm
-
-
'Late views' are most welcome, thank you
-
-
Good
GOOD -
What a lovely dedication Karim..very touching..very well deserved for the Gold and I know this means more than Gold..
I have seen The case of Huang Chuncai in health discovery channel and his case reminded me of another case in Haiti of a 15years old girl. She was diagnosed with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia(bone growth disease) ..It is another rare case and here is the link to read about it and see the pictures if you never seen her before .
I am sure there are many other different cases not discovered yet in this world(especially in poor countries..) and It is always challenge for the medical field. All I say when I see or hear those stories...That we are lucky if we are healthy and we should pray Allah every second for that.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://wbli.com/images/morningshow/little_girls_face_tumor.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wbli.com/morningshow/massivetumor.html&h=202&w=400&sz=15&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=9TaRNRbDWowpTM:&tbnh=63&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddysplasia%2Bgirl%2Bface%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
Great job Karim, what a good heart you have to write such a lovely thing..my sweet friend
Ruby
-
Excellent
Very powerful write. So very deserving of the gold. Congratulations.
-
WOW! That was breath-taking!
WEll written and smartly done to illustrate dark reality
in LIFE boldly, POWERFULLY!
When you only have your soul to wear, amazing what
strength flows out of him!
face-less.
ears/Seatttle way to write! way to write!
-
i like it very good..
"of the burden I have been" was my favorite line.. very good poem ... -
-
Thank you very much.
That's an interesting picture you have just up there, what is it?
You say you are 'yellow'... yes like the sun, do you know much about Chinese culture and have you heard of this province Hunan, mentioned in the poem?
Hope you don't mind me asking?
Thanks again for your comment,
Sol
-
-
YES YES YES YES!!!! Bloody good show love, you deserve it... truly
well done
I am so pleased ... really pleased -
This is a wonderful, powerful piece and well-deserving of gold.
-
-
Thank you very much, for your kind and generous comment breedluv. Sol
-
-
Amazing...Graceful, Touching...
Wow....this honestly leaves me without words.
I have been back and read this so many times....each time unable to comment....what to say? My words seem so useless in comparison to all that up there.
This write is of rare sorts....with every read the room grows silent and empty, despite the people and sounds....Invoking emotions in every direction....pain, strength, admiration, suffering, survival.
Thank you for entering this deeply thought-provoking write into my contest.
Honorable words about an honorable man.
Truly exceptional.
-
-
That must have been so hard jamie.
I want you to be absolutely sure that receiving the Gold for Huang, is going to mean more than I can say for a very long time. Sol -
Just so, so PLEASED and HAPPY for this to have received the 'Gold' award!!!
Thank you so much jamie
I don't know what else to say...
This means very much to me, more than I can express at present.
I certainly will be doing my best to complete things, by sending the poem on to the family who it's intended for. This award and every comment here, I feel has helped in this, and I intend to let you know how it goes.
'I'm over the moon!'
Sol
-
Thanks jamie, I was glad of the opportunity to have it scrutinised before sending it on. This whole event you have provided, has already been a wonderful help. Much thanks.
-
-
I came by again, to receive my fix of peace and grace, this is such a wonderful write [Sol]Kerim, that only that name could bring this to light and fruition...
-
I especially like the repetition of the line "Are we sewing his ear?" Those two stanzas in which the line is used create an amazing, but reasonably subtle, humorous poke in an otherwise incredibly dark atmosphere
-
well done
I read the poem before I read the "Author notes" and did not know who Huang Chuncai is. I was, however, quite struck by the intensity of the poem. I also like the flow.
-
wonderfully written
great im shocked
this is amazing
it has alot of flow yet serperate
thank you for sharing
keep up the great work
KITTY -
beautiful, flowing yet seperate, great wording and amazing all around, keep up the good work!
-
This entire poem was a beautiful dedication to Huang Chuncai. I was actually familiar with his story, so I was interested when I saw your piece in the featured poems. What a remarkable man-so much strength. This poem was a wonderful ode to him, good work.
All the best,
KP -
-
Hi KP, I feel that much expressed in my last 'reply' to 'comment' could be said to you also. Please refer to this and know that it is an expression of my thanks to you all, for such encouraging response. Sol
-
-
I think what I admire is that you capture at myriad levels the spirituality of East Asia -- not merely the emotional tension of the circumstance being described. The references to sutures and the sewing of the eye reminded me not only of the operation, but as I was reading also variously of the agony and horror of the Pol Pot regime and, ironically, the tranquility associated with Japanese and Chinese death poems (i.e. it is traditional for Japanese haiku masters to pen a death haiku). It could as easily be a death mask described, as an operation designed to provide relief from a horrible tumor.
You have captured in marvelous tones both the inner beauty of the subject muse (and perhaps of the poet himself), as well as the painful reality of the circumstance that gives rise to the subject matter of the piece. Excellent work, and you definitely should be proud of the ultimate composition. You also had an excellent editor, it appears.
-
-
Much gratitude & I hope you are right.
I can't say how wonderful it is to receive such comprehensive, let alone so generously encouraging, feedback which carries, it seems, a general awareness and knowledge of this 'area of subject' wider than my own.
I cannot claim to be expert at all in these fields, all I know is the way that being informed about this 'circumstance' struck deep and resonated in a very personal way. At the same time it seemed very obvious that essentially there was an aliveness of meaning in this, which was to do with humanity as a whole and not just myself. All that remained was to reflect what had struck me, with as little interference or self-colouring as possible.
Gilly's help was nothing short of invaluable, as my knowledge of punctuation and layout is much in it's infancy. All the words, verses and sequence were already there, but this need to have a 'second eye' of more expertise before daring to submit such subject, obviously so personally held by others, was felt intensely. I still wonder if I'd have had the temerity, to deliver this, without such help and literally 'double-checking'. I must also say, that the biggest help again, was simply the hugely generous encouragement.
Thank you for such response which makes it all worth while, in completing the resolve and certainty enough, to forward this to Huang Cunchai himself.
This, as all the feedback comments here, are so much appreciated, with this aim in mind, just as Gilly's help came in delivering it to you all here. Sincerely Sol/Kerim
-
-
a good poem, i am too drunk to go into any more detail so i will just say i enjoyed the read here. a poem penned well.
-
-
drunk, you?? who'd have thought it... hehehhe last time I got drunk with you, that stupid taxi driver couldn't find my bloody house - or was that I couldn't find my way home....
-
-
taxi drivers, they need sacking i remember once one going mad at me cos i paid him in one pence pieces
-
-
how much was the fare?? I daren't ask.....
- only you
-
-
around 3 quid, coming back from hope hospital way
-
-
-
hehehe i am not drunk, i should have said i am mildly spinning out of my head lol
-
-
Hey, you are a good-hearted one, individuality!
That's as well as being very eloquent and worthy of your name!
Much thanks to you my friend, Sol
-
-
Wonderful!
I will keep this person in my Prayers. I am so glad that you shared this poem with us. I hope that more people will read this and I hope that everyone that reads this will pray harder then they ever have. Thanks again for sharing this amazing poem!
-
God, bless this tortured, dear soul. Thank you for sharing this. When people get together and pray, they pray results. Shancy.
-
-
I am sure that what you say is true. Thank you, Sol
-
-
This is amazing. Such depth of thought and spirituality here, of the essence of life. Simply wonderful and what a great way to start my day... I have so much to be grateful for. Thank you for this.
~ Nicolette
-
-
Don't we just. Thank you so much, Nicolette. Sol
-
-
aweeeesome
I feel the emotion...it was really a good expression of yourself..keep on writing...you got a good pen out of your mind.
-
you truly have made me grateful for who i am. i am always complaining that i am not model beautiful but you have made me think. thank you for sharing this with me. viyanna rosemarie
-
I cant really say much about this it confused me to no end, but after reading it a second time it made me Cry!! Wonderful write!!!
-
-
Thank you so much for your generosity in reading it for a second time.
I wonder, would you be willing to tell me what it was that compelled you to do this? Perhaps it was just to try and reconcile the confusion, or perhaps something else? I am aware that it will be much different for readers unfamiliar with what is here, than 'those in the know' and am very interested to gain insight into how it's perceived from a first introduction, which I can no longer judge very easily. Thanks, Sol
-
-
You know what I think...
Like you, I saw the documentary on TV and when you read this poem to me the other night, yes, it moved me.
However, having read it to myself just now, this time, the tears flowed! Such sensitive observations [Sol] and in my opinion, very sensitively written.
But then, you know what I think!! ;-)
[[xx]]
-
-
Hi ljk, I have the pleasure of hearing him read it too.. and with all the times I have, I have those tears too and lumps in my throat...
- he just doesn't see the impact yet, but he will
nice to see your comment be of what I see and hear in this piece too
Gilly.x
-
Lindi... Thank you x x
-
-
Sad, but wonderful
This is such a touching piece. And the line, "I can be a dutiful son," is so heartbreaking. Well done.
-
-
Thank you very much for your comment. I wanted to say that every inclusion in speech marks, was actually spoken, according to channel 4's documentary. The surgeons words and words from Huang Chuncai himself, I tried to keep as far as possible as the original. Yes the same words moved me, in a very similar way. Sol
-
-
I like the story, but feel totally unqualified to comment on the poetry, sorry.
-
Amazing
I loved this poem although i admit until i read through to the bottom i was wondering what the lines
"Is that the mouth?
There's the hole.
Are we sewing his ear?
were meaning throughout the poem but at the end it became beautifully clarified.
This is an amazing piece.
xoxo
-
-
Hi Yunalonei, thanks for your generous comment. It was these same words that drew my attention to the programmed documentary on channel 4 and I deliberately tried to keep this intrigue present, in the opening of the poem. I'm glad it seems to have worked, the idea being to let the reality of the situation sink in gradually and with more scope for consideration, than just an initial reaction. Thanks again, Sol
-
-
beautifully done
-
-
I am so, so happy that you think so, perhaps even as much, relieved. Thank you Liza. Sol
-
-
I am so honoured my friend, to have been with you on this, through this process and seeing how this piece developed from the initial TV programme to this fine piece of work you've done... and any minor parts I played to help are totally insignificant to the Grace, Beauty and Elegant way you picked this story and produced some of your best poetry to date
wondrous stuff my friend, truly
you're a gem
Gilly.x
-
-
Thank you
Gilly, thank you so much for receiving with such patience, my persistent questions about 'punctuation' and 'should I do this or that'. Also for your invaluable encouragement to bring out this piece, which was and is not, only about myself. I believe it is about everyone.
You have been such a good friend, especially with regard to my doubts and need of second opinion in order to check on myself. All of this has helped to bring out this piece which I felt so important to get right. Now I can only hope that Huang Chuncai will be able to receive it in the spirit intended. This, while also knowing that further edits may take place
Your friend always, Sol
-
-
Sol?? hehhe
You're welcome Gary..... it was my honour to see this through to the end result.
which reading through again this morning, is still as vibrant and graceful as when I first heart it.
well done You!
XX
-
-
-
Amazing. You've captured the feeling perfectly I think. A really emotional read. Wow, just brilliant.
-
-
X X
-
-
Ahem, both of you.
This is wonderful. -
This is really fantastic. I love how you capture the cultures you write. I watch a lot of Korean programming, and in watching have learned a new way of looking at things..
Classes. Burdens. Duty.
All these things that shape our lives. Whether or not we choose to adhere to them.
I have been the burden many times.
And been burdened many times, it's all part of human nature, yet here in the US it isn't often you will hear anyone say, "I don't want to burden you."
You nailed this, I think.
-
-
Thank you Suzanne, your opinion will always means much to me, and this piece I considered to be particularly important, to try and get right. Sol
-
-
well, you did.
-
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 59 of 59
