Vanquished by the Sleeping
Giant
(The Universe is in your Hands edit)
Janet Kuypers
3/5/24
We draw strength from our past experiences.
When only light and truth could guide our steps,
we have no choice but to remember our battles.
We now dread what bloodshed may lay ahead
when a sleeping giant just past our borders once
went in and took us over, nearly destroying us.
We fought back then, recovered independence —
warily tethering our small state together again.
Why must we still face such an unforgiving enemy?
Who do we hold accountable but a faceless face
we’re supposed to revere as a supreme comrade?
What more can we do, to prove to you that it is
we who should be treated with solemn respect,
we, with true dignity. Our people have fought you
without question for far too many years, and now
we live in a fractured society because of your reign.
Wanting to take us over, you now provide this truly
wicked, thinly-veiled ultimatum to take us over,
which only meant you could infiltrate us, and we
would have no choice at this point in the battle but to
welcome you in. But it is you who do not understand —
we could not in good conscience do this. If your
war will continue to rage on, know that the battle
will be ours in the end. They talk about the little ones
winning the war, coming back from darkness
when all was lost. This is why I said past experience is
where we draw strength. Only light and truth
would guide our steps. We remember our battles —
we stand proud of our past and our future, and we
will always embrace our culture, our history, forever.
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