The harm that we cause travels out from its impact.
It moves deeply through us, between us.
Neither space nor time halts its flow.
Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di, ©2016
It can bring on a darkness.
As we seek to protect ourselves
From inner demons and the living.
This blackness may conceal even our essence.
If we are lucky, others may arrive,
Who, like angels or shepherds,
Seek to care for, comfort, and guide us.
From their expressions of love and compassion,
And our own efforts to let go.
We may regain the strength and faith
To again stand next to one another,
To open and reach for the Light.
In 1982, one of the bloodiest years of Guatemala’s 36 year civil war, military officers killed and raped Mayan peasants in the tiny hamlet of Sepur Zarco. Subsequently, eleven women from the village were forced into domestic and sexual slavery. This bondage lasted as long as six years for some of the women. A case was brought against the officers after a long and painful process. This year the Guatemalan courts tried two of the officers in charge, found them guilty, and sentenced them to 340 years in prison. The accompanying photos are of the women who brought the charges prior to their testimony and during the reading of the verdict.
Written by Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di, ©2016
