‘Hidden in a Flyer’ by Daniel Magdalen, and Other Poetry on the Persecution of Falun Gong

on the 21st anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s launching the persecution of the peaceful practice of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999

Hidden in a Flyer

by Daniel Magdalen

Slowing down my clockwork footsteps on the night-lit pavement
From this workweek’s marathon, I start to scan a flyer
Grabbed by reflex. Frowned, I grasp in pained amazement:
… Truthful, kind, forbearing minds in China counted higher
Than the System’s pawns; in shock, its sickle thrashed with ire.
Parks, once vibrant sights of meditation—all deserted.
People free in faith—soon hunted down. Events grew dire.
Brief mock trials. Prisons flooded with fresh victims. Hurt, they’d
Strive to rescue others, bringing facts to light. The Earth did
Not expect the overarching smoke of lies they’d brazen…
Home: my lamp and screen turned on, I crave more truth and search it,
Reaching Bloody Harvest’s field of knowledge—days to gaze in.
Midnight comes, my eyes give in; my reason, though, still tackles
This unseen side of the world… Could we unlock the shackles?

Under fury’s reign, warm smiles receive the crowbar’s coldness…
How to feel? When words of truth and faith get choked by falsehood,
What to say? The backbone—stretched to break, in fiendish slowness.
Though knocked down, the guiltless rise—their words march on: What walls could
Block the wind of knowledge…? Slander’s dust fort slowly falls; who’d
Not take in this breeze, if minds knew how to breathe? Facts baffle
Thinking drowned in bias. Yet, our sentient nature’s calls would
Wake the brain by rousing care, while numbing every cavil…
Distant, brass-like tones come through, inviting inner travel:
Paths of insight show man’s toils, in vivid fields of meaning.
Views, once petty, broaden. Links of life unravel,
Walking forth in realms empathic, which are bright and greening.
As we help the helpless, in ourselves we’ll feel reviving
Timeless values that unite and keep what’s good yet thriving.

Daniel Magdalen is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Bucharest, in Romania.

21 Years

by Rider With No Name

The persecution of Falun Gong,
The crime that’s gone on for far too long;
21 years, a child has been raised,
21 years, four presidents praised;
Why on earth haven’t we stopped to think,
Without truth, love, forbearance, we sink;
Sins not grave enough to take a stance?
Organ theft among the Devil’s dance;
Shoot you in the lung, and as you die,
They cut out hope, your heart and your eye;
Hammer and sickle, Mark of the Beast,
Renounce the red specter in the East;
Really just comes down to bein’ free,
Standin’ with brethren across the sea;
This crime has gone on for far too long,
About time we stand with Falun Gong.

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Courage Is Found (Song Lyrics)

by Kay Rubacek

When the costs are high, and the brave are few
To face the devils, surrounding you
When the world says one, who dares say two
Despite the truth you know, you know is true

When the fork in the road, leads you up or leads down
And you know the fence you sit on, brings you no crown
When your children will ask, what did you do
They’ll see the history books and what you choose

Courage will come, it’s coming
Courage will come, it’s coming
Courage will come, it’s coming
Courage will come, it’s coming
Courage will come, courage will come

When black’s not white, and wrong’s not right
And you know heaven is watching, but so are spies
When your heart beats hard, and your feet won’t budge
Till you only step forward and never give up

Courage is found, courage is found
Courage is found, found
Courage is found, courage is found
Courage is found, found 

When fear is a rock, but smaller than your will
It is chiseled by courage to valleys and hills
When hope takes hold, rains burst on drought
Faith softens sorrows and courage is found

Courage is found, courage is found
Courage is found, found
Courage is found, courage is found
Faith softens sorrows 
And courage is found