From the world’s only detained Nobel peace prize laureate: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
In the Quiet Land, no one can tell
if there’s someone who’s listening
for secrets they can sell.
The informers are paid in the blood of the land
and no one dares speak what the tyrants won’t stand.
In the quiet land of Burma,
no one laughs and no one thinks out loud.
In the quiet land of Burma,
you can hear it in the silence of the crowd
In the Quiet Land, no one can say
when the soldiers are coming
to carry them away.
The Chinese want a road; the French want the oil;
the Thais take the timber; and SLORC takes the spoils…
In the Quiet Land….
In the Quiet Land, no one can hear
what is silenced by murder
and covered up with fear.
But, despite what is forced, freedom’s a sound
that liars can’t fake and no shouting can drown.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been imprisoned or under house arrest since 1989. She has been released a couple of times due to international pressure but her periods of freedom have been very brief. Her crimes consist of speaking against the tyranny that oppresses her country and of being elected by the people to lead her country. She has exhibited uncommon bravery. She has spent her life in a very lonely struggle against tyranny.
~ Aung San Suu Kyi
from her 1991 book, Freedom From Fear
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More on Burma:
Nice