Aberfan acrostic poem

This is the acrostic poem Lisa-Lee wrote for Aberfan;

Angels were made in the village of Aberfan

Beautiful precious little angels, who were loved by so many

Early one cold foggy morning, they were forced to depart

Runaway and hide was something they were unable to do

Fear filled their tiny hearts, as the darkest of shadows came in so fast

Always and forever we'll remember the angles of Aberfan

Never will we forget any of them, they're forever in our hearts.

Aberfan music video tribute

This is Lisa-Lee's music video in tribute to the Aberfan disaster. Today marks the 50th anniversary of this terrible tragedy. May all the victims rest in peace and may they and the survivors never be forgotten.

Please click on the link below to watch the music video on Youtube.


Aberfan memorial music video / Lisa Lee Dark

ABERFAN

On Friday it will be the 50th anniversary of one of the worst mining disasters that happened in my country, Wales (UK). In Wales we only have to say the name of the village and straight away we think of this terrible catastrophic disaster. To the outside world it was known as 'The village that lost its children'. The Aberfan disaster killed 144 people.



Aberfan is a small Welsh mining village. The disaster happened because of the waste from the coal mine was stacked up in a pile, like a mountain of mud and rubble, but there was a problem with where they were putting the waste, there was a natural stream underneath the mountain of waste which made it unsafe! The other problem was due to the fact that Aberfan had suffered days of heavy rain, the build up of water resulted in the mountain of waste coming apart and creating a landslide! This landslide went straight down the hill into the village of Aberfan, and the main building in its way was a primary school.

50 years ago on 21st October, at 9:15 in the morning, the classrooms at Pantglas junior school got buried in thick mud and rubble from the coal mine. The children were buried alive. 116 children aged between 7 and 10 died that morning, along with 4 teachers, and some local residents. There was so much debris/rubbish, it would take a full 7 days to get all the bodies of the victims, most of them were children. Most of the children died from asphyxiation  (suffocation), and others had fractured skulls and multiple crush injuries.



One of the saddest things about this terrible disaster is, if it had struck a few minutes earlier the children would not have been in the classroom; and if it was a few hours later the school would have broken up for half term! The disaster happened so quickly there was nothing anyone could have done to save the children. During the rescue operation only a few children were saved, and after 11am on that day, there were no survivors pulled out of the school.



The parents had to live with the guilt of sending their children to school, and knowing that they died in such a brutal cruel way. Some parents felt huge guilt because their child was complaining about not wanting to go to school but they forced them, and by forcing them they sent their children to their deaths. Some children were saved because they were ill on the day and didn't attend school. When I was in college I did a project on Aberfan and I always remember reading about one of the little boys who died; the day before the disaster he draw a picture, in the picture he drew a clock showing 9:15, he also drew his school and then he drew planes dropping bombs on the hills surrounding the village! He more or less predicted what was going to happen.

When Queen Elizabeth II visited the scene with her husband Prince Phillip, a week after the disaster she almost cried when a three year old little girl gave her a posy, with a message saying, 'From the remaining children of Aberfan'.

On Friday  (21st October), there will be a one minute silence at 9:15am to remember the victims of the Aberfan disaster. Please pray for them and never let them be forgotten. Most of the victims were innocent babies, may they all be resting in peace. Never forget Aberfan.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster

We still existent

This is Lisa-Lee Dark reading Mohammad Arafat's poem, 'We still existent'. This poem is taken from Lisa-Lee and Mohammad's poetry book, 'Hope - a journey with many ups and downs'. The book was published in 2015 and is exclusively available from Amazon.

ISBN - 13 : 978-1514642900
ISBN - 10 15144642905


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G4gNGunRDj8

Here, we exist
From mid sea to the river
From Sinai to the North Mounts
From hills to the wells
We exist

Shed our blood
Drink it, lick it
Draw smiles with it
We exist

Destroy our homes
Tear our tents
Torture our detainees
Mutilate our children
We exist

Sweep our lands
Uproot our trees
Cut our branches
Burn our crops
We exist

Steal our souls
Silence our voices
Kill us, but we exist
For this land, we resist
Everything will be repossessed!

Requiem for my dreams

I used to dream of happy times

I used to dream of future times

My dreams were varied and often

I used to laugh in my sleep while I dreamt

I used to love to sleep; so I could escape in my dreams

But all that changed the day you left.



Unhappiness, misery and sorrow has entered my heart

I no longer dream in my sleep

My dreams have been taken over by nightmates

I seldom sleep during the night

I seldom want to sleep anymore on fear of waking up

I want to close my eyes and never arise.



My dreams have left me

They've packed their bags and gone away

I feel abandoned, desolated and alone

Without my dreams there is no hope for the future

No happy ever afters, and no bright tomorrow's

This is now the reality of a life without any dreams

Instead of uncertainty, self doubt and self pity

I must say goodbye to my dreams.



So I write this Requiem for my dreams

A Requiem that will help me to let go

Let go of all the good happy times

And allow me to embrace this new darkness

I write this Requiem for my dreams

A Requiem to end all Requiem's

This is my final Requiem

To say farewell to my departed dreams.