Vision by Feraya

A country of great beauty
People so gentle and kind

There is also ugliness
And cruelty
Fleeing and hiding
And foraging for food
To survive

Our people are in pain
Suffering like no hell on earth
Darkness and despair
Surround them

And freedom is out of reach

Beaten and battered by life
Death and diseases
Of the mind and spirit

Swallowed up by gloominess
And bitterness
How can they carry on?

Each of us has a role to play

To help our countrymen
Not by hatred and blame
Not by giving false hope
Or ideas
Or concepts

But to see the big vision

A vision that’s not small or limited
A vision that’s vast and spacious

So that Burma’s people may rise up

Like a beautiful lotus
From a muddy pond.