Swallowing the massive waves
sleeping on the grand shore _
The Sea-Child
that has no place to sleep
Not knowing what to do
the dolls turned shell-shocked;
the balloons he blew flew
helter-skelter.
A great distance away, beyond the eyes reach
floats upside down
the paper-boat made by him.
By his side lay forlorn
fish and canals;
For he who lay there abandoned
theshrimps and crabs
bowed their heads
O, the swirling wind, was it you who toppled his boat?
O, the surging tidal wave
was it you who smashed his boat?
That he tried to enter Europe defying Immigrant Law _
said those who offer arms as gifts;
that in violation ofthe Law of
Migration he got inside and was
sleeping on the shores of Turkey _
said the big bosses of wars.
For, he was a Syrian kid.
*AylanKurdi lay there
face downward, deep in silence.
As the children of Eelam
eaten by bombs;
As the children of Afghanistan
bullet-riddled,
As the children of Iraq
torn to pieces;
As the children of Myanmar
brutally chased away,
As the children of Somalia
shrunk and sunkin hunger.
Alas, how many more children of
how many more lands
for how many more reasons
would be thrown away
know not where?
When our children were butchered and thrown
along the shores of Eelam
no voice was raised.
For, they were the children of Eelam.
In the World of Wars
The sea turns a tomb forChildren.
Poem: Theepachelvan
Translation: Latha Ramakirishnan
* AylanKurdi was a Syrian child. Leaving his home land where war was raging, while trying to enter Europe as an immigrant, caught in the boat-accident that took place in Turkey he drowned in the sea and died. His body came to lie on the sea-shore of Turkey.