A Silent Prayer

Dear Lord,

Of joy of sorrow

Of today of tomorrow

How I wish to pray

Yet don't know what to say

So many things confusing

I'm afraid I'll go insane

Help me just to stay in line

"I'm the master of my mind"

I was born

In forlorn days

No milk, corn hard to find

You know, war just over

War against the enemy

So to read in history

For three and half centuries

Brought us only misery

Hail the hero, heroine

Who on the brink of famine

Fought till the last blood dripped

For the enemy to end its grip

With no end in confidence

Indonesia won its independence

August seventeen nineteen forty five

The people started a new life

Thousands islands, but one nation

One name for all: Indonesian

Proudly so claimed the name

The world, too, noted its fame

Like brothers and sisters

People lived well together

Fresh the air, calm the wind

Greeting each other with a grin

Years come and years go

I go along a simple show

Work hard for a sum to earn

To live with all my children

Children are like mirrors

Look at, to miss some errors

Look close, then you'll see

A clear shadow as it should be

All that true, let them know

Be wise, to say yes or no

Love them at every moment

They'll be a great investment

So far things so sweet

Nothing hard for me to meet

Till, suddenly, one bright day

Black clouds all the way

Wonder, what happened

I was deeply frightened

Looked like a state of war

I never saw it before

So many killings and burnings

Read it in the publications

Those brothers and sisters

To fight one against others

Day and days to follow

What will happen I don't know

Air stinks, and so the wind

People frowning, no more grins

Hard to feel the 'morrow

Where to stay, where to go

Life still rolling on, anyway

Yet tranquility so far away

Deep in the night

Lit by the moonlight

I prayed silently

To God Almighty

Lord.

Like a lost chicken

Confused, panic stricken

Please give me a hand

Don't leave me behind

Forgive me as I confess

That only in distress

I call you just to please

And to give me inner peace

Help my country from the agony

And you'll always be my company

Show us the right way

So everything will be OK

Help me not to be afraid

To get through with my fate

Though I've to live all alone

I'll need no one to be cloned

Help me to remember

That you'll be there forever

To take care of my prayers

I send you now and later

Amen

By Inawati Adiwinata