The foam of the ocean surrounds
everything
We are lost in the open sea, looking
for a shoreline to call safety.
We float on the deep and dark
ocean like dust on a palm leaf, we
wander in endless space.
Only our fear, that we do not sleep
forever on the bottom of the sea.
We are without food
or water and our
children and
women lie exhausted
crying, until
they can cry no more
No ship will stop
We float like we do not exist.
Lord Buddha, do you hear
our voices? From every port we
are pushed out.
Our distress signals rise
and rise again.
How many boats have
perished?
How many families are
buried beneath those waves?
Find us
We are lost in the open sea
looking for a shoreline to call safety.
Vietnamese Monk
Los Angeles
classification: Social Commentary
After the Vietnam War, many people in Cambodia, Laos, and especially Vietnam became refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s. Fleeing "re-education camps" and the "Killing Fields" in which it is estimated that 165,000 people died, many came to refugee camps in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philipines, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Others escaped in boats causing great controversy in their destination ports in Australia, the United States and sometimes other western countries. Their plight became an international humanitarian crisis.
After the Vietnam War, many people in Cambodia, Laos, and especially Vietnam became refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s. Fleeing "re-education camps" and the "Killing Fields" in which it is estimated that 165,000 people died, many came to refugee camps in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philipines, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Others escaped in boats causing great controversy in their destination ports in Australia, the United States and sometimes other western countries. Their plight became an international humanitarian crisis.
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