October 12 (Bali Bombings)

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October 12 (Bali Bombings)CJ Levinson

I wonder what you sawWhen you looked at the world?Did you see how far we’d come?I wish I’d known how to open your eyesSo that you could really see

You asked me why I don’t believe in GodAnd I still don’t know if I can explainAll I know is the saddest thing I’ve ever seenTook all my faith away

On October 12 October 12

I looked for you amongst the ashesOf that terrible, broken placeBut the smoke caught in my eyes and lungsAnd pain was all I could see

I stayed up for days, trying to find an answerBut you were gone foreverAnd the last time I saw youIs the last thing I’ll rememberLying broken beneath bags of iceGone forever

On October 12October 12

We were so youngThinking we could live foreverWe could never really see

But I’ll wait for youAnd I’ll remember youForeverLicenced under a Creative Commons Licence

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3 responses to “October 12 (Bali Bombings)”

  1. museditions Avatar
    museditions

    Your work is stunning. I would think those affected by the bombings would be honored by your poignant tribute. Your line ‘But I’ll wait for you” (after all that came before) nearly did me in. I am moved, as always, by your skill and your compassion.CJ: Thanks Muse; I really appreciate your kind words. I hope the families would be honoured by it; I wanted to capture the impact of that awful day and I hope it’s respectful.I actually started this when I was thinking about the 9/11 anniversary, but I realised while I was writing it that it more reflected what I felt about Bali; it just felt more personal, and 9/11 needed a different feeling to capture it… so I rewrote it. Maybe one day I’ll try and set it to music or images… the 5 years have just gone so quickly; I think it’s so important we remember, in our own way, and time.

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  2. Ayla Avatar
    Ayla

    Hey just wanna say that this poem ment the world to me… I live half my life in bali… and when the terriost attacks ocured i lost a significant amount of friends and family….So greatful that theres people out there still haveing it on there minds…. being a surviour the anniversarys just bring back all the emotions, smells sounds… very graphic in my mind…But The way you include your own emotional persepctive within this poem is amazing….CJ: Ayla, thank you so much for your comment. I’m so sorry for your loss and I can’t imagine what it must be like with the anniversary each year… I think it’s so important that we remember, that we honour the people who were lost, because they were people, friends, so much more than a name. I know I will never forget how I felt that day, how I still feel.I’m so glad the poem touched you; I wanted it to be respectful, and to tell its own story… it means so much to me that you took the time to read it and let me know what it meant to you. Thank you, and my best wishes for you and everyone affected by the attacks.

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  3. Coogee Memorial « A Writer's Life Avatar
    Coogee Memorial « A Writer's Life

    […] I wrote this poem as well for the fifth anniversary of the bombings in 2002. I thought I’d share it again in […]

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