Ballad of Anggerik

Ballad of Anggerik

BY Ho jia yiing

(On the snatch theft nearby a church in Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru, 2010)

“Darling dear, may I go to church

Instead of staying in at home,

And worship God 

As today's Sunday?”

“No, darling, no, you may not go,

For the dogs are fierce and wild,

And knives on motor-bikers,

Aren’t good for a young lady.”

“But, darling, I needed a church,

At this new housing area

And march the streets of Anggerik

To feel the peace surrounding it."

“No, darling, no, you may not go,

For I fear those bikers will harm you.

But you may self study the bible instead

And You-tube for choir or songs.”

--------paraphrased, to be continued-----

Original:

Ballad of Birmingham

BY DUDLEY RANDALL

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

“Mother dear, may I go downtown

Instead of out to play,

And march the streets of Birmingham

In a Freedom March today?”

“No, baby, no, you may not go,

For the dogs are fierce and wild,

And clubs and hoses, guns and jails

Aren’t good for a little child.”

“But, mother, I won’t be alone.

Other children will go with me,

And march the streets of Birmingham

To make our country free.”

“No, baby, no, you may not go,

For I fear those guns will fire.

But you may go to church instead

And sing in the children’s choir.”

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,

And bathed rose petal sweet,

And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,

And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know her child

Was in the sacred place,

But that smile was the last smile

To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,

Her eyes grew wet and wild.

She raced through the streets of Birmingham

Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,

Then lifted out a shoe.

“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,

But, baby, where are you?”

Dudley Randall, “Ballad of Birmingham” from Cities Burning. Copyright © 1968 by Dudley Randall. Reprinted with the permission of the Estate of Dudley Randall.