- General

Between Darkness And Light

Jang Song-Thaek was stripped down and thrown into a cage, along with five of his closest associates. Then they let in 120 dogs, which were starved for three days, and they let them prey on the victims and eat them alive. This is called ‘quan jue’, or execution by dogs, and it was overseen by the young dictator Kim Jong-Un, as reported by “Wen Wei Po”, a daily newspaper close to the Chinese communist regime.

This report shouldn’t be accepted at face value, because it’s probably part of a thought-through tactic to enlarge the newspaper’s circulation, or at least that’s what many analysts say. Yet everybody, including those who ordered it, the North Korean dictator and his communist dynasty, agree that the execution was still performed in one way or another, and that fact should make every person with a sane mind and pure heart think. Because, when we read about the brutal and cold ways of killing people in this country cloaked in a dark cloud of tyranny, we must shiver at the mere thought. Let us not forget that these crimes are not taking place on another planet, but right here, where every person has (and must have) a natural right to live, and that this right shouldn’t depend on any mad dictator. A trusted source informed me that it was Kim Kyong Hui, the sister of the late dictator Kim Yong-Il, who ordered the execution of her own husband and his close associates due to greed and arrogance. It is known that the ruling dynasty is using the army to maintain “love and peace” among the people and, to do so, the army must be well supplied with food and clothing, which leaves the rest of the nation starving and hungry, and it is a sort of a motto of the ruling communist dynasty. The insensitive and cunning Kim Kyong Hui is teaching the young dictator how to rule the people. Without a loyal army, there is no loyal nation, that is her pagan motto, and when her closest associates ask her how to feed the starving people, she coldly answers that death will take care of this issue, since poor people dying of hunger is a natural process in her opinion. Of course, neither she nor the ‘dear leader’ can be touched by the tears of hundreds of thousands of starving children, and so the dynasty is dividing international donations between the army and the lobotomized party puppets, and only the remains of the remains trickle through to those subjects who are also decidedly lobotomized and close to the palace, so that the waves of their merry sighs can spread to the palace, where the ‘dear leader’ is anxiously awaiting the praise directed at him by his people, to be able to keep surfing the popular elation. Yes, using the term ‘his people’ is correct, because this dynasty has long since decided to turn their pagan ideas into the ghastly reality of the water, the air, the mountains and valleys, and even the people being their property. And so, the cunning shadow master Kim Kyong Hui has advised the young dictator to execute Jang Song-Thaek for the surplus of compassion he expressed in the past. You might wonder what compassion could possibly have to do with corruption. To cut a long story short, Jang Song-Thaek’s sin was that he communicated his feeling – that more solidarity should be shown to the starving people – to his closest associates in the party and in the army and that, for example, the money made from the sale of seafood to Chinese companies whould be used to aid the people, instead of letting the party, i.e. the dynasty, be the sole beneficiary. Sources close to the palace claim that it drove Kim Kyong Hui mad, and that she ran across the palaca cursing her husband, who dared to utter the ony forbidden ward, compassion. This was further exaggerated by Jang Song-Thaek’s statement that no amount of plastic surgery or costly perfume would help her regain her youth and beauty, and that it would be better if that money was spent on those who are starving, rather than being spent on vanity. This was akin to signing his own death sentence, says the secret source.

Some analysts will say that it was Jang Song-Thaek who empowered the young dictator in the first place, by replacing generals who had their doubts regarding Kim Jong-Un, but they keep forgetting that Kim Kyong Hui, the younger sister of Lim Jong-Il, was the puppetmaster pulling the strings. One might wonder how Kim Jong-Un can sleep calmly. Isn’t he haunted by the ghosts of the departed? Skeptics will say that the young dictator can be craddled to sleep by the music of the golden coins and the view of his throne. At day, countless lobotomized poltroons and mercenaries are keeping him happy. For example, some former NBA stars arrive at the throne of the ‘dear leader’ to perform for his pleasure. If the young dictator’s gaze should by mistake notice the cold and dark streets where his starving subjects walk like zombies, all these basketball greats will surely lighten his mood. Yes, you might ask yourself what kind of man it is, who can leave the citadel of liberty to praise the mad dictator of such an outlandish fable. Some media is elevating this basketball player to the highest throne of humanism, claiming that he is on some kind of holy diplomatic mission. Come on, no amount of sugar talk can enlighten a man who is calmly watching the ongoing deaths of thousands of children and mothers, while stuffing his stomach full of expensive exotic delicacies. When the former basketball star claims that his great friend Kim Jong-Un is a wonderful and – get this – compassionate man, he must know that he is in no way helping manking, but rather furthering the boundaries of the crazed dictator’s madness. Is that a diplomatic mission? I’d like to have the opportunity to ask such ‘peacemakers’ and journalists, who appeared before the young dictator to interview him, whether the idea behind kissing the dictator’s hand is to help the oppressed and starved people. You’re definitely wrong! This is how you damage the oppressed and starving people of North Korea, because if the truth is ever to reach the dictator’s errant mind, it has to be shouted out loud! It takes medical language to correctly diagnose the disease and to cure the patient, and the dictator Kim Jong-Un can only be cured by the truth, not by false compliments. It is high time for Kim jong-Un to look at the man in the mirror, who will say to him: “On the path of life you may fool the whole world, and people will pat your shoulders as they pass you by, but your ultimate wage will be pain of the heart, and tears, if you have fooled the man in the mirror.” The only way to save or even enlighten the young dictator is to talk to him far away from the prying eyes and ears of Kim Kyong Hui, or her personal spies. I believe that some poems based on social themes (like “My little cardboard home” or “Freedom”) would be of more help to the young dictator than all the fake compliments offered to him by false peacemakers. If the aforementioned basketball player was a man of noble mission, he would ask himself how many hungry mouths could be fed by those bloody florins that will be thrown before him by the young dictator. As a poet, I would always choose homelessness before the golden throne of dictatorship, because life teaches us that the moment you lose your soul, you become much poorer than the homeless, since the poverty of spirit is the worst of poverties. I still believe that falsely complimenting dictators cannot possibly turn them into better people. History teaches us that the opposite is true. But then, could I be wrong? Anyway, I always rely on the most fair among all the judges of the quality of human life, which is time itself, because time cannot be owned by no single monarch, group of people, states or corporations and, as such, time is most fair at writing history. After all, life teaches us that the journey between darkness and light is not easy, and that weak-spirited people easily stray, because a strong spirit is man’s most faithful ally in the thick forest of passion. Yes, a man without conscience is like a lamp without oil.

When we see a dynasty turning North Korea into a concentration camp in which an entire nation is imprisoned, and the free word is turning a blind eye on it, we all need to ask ourselves whether we’re all to blame because, how can you possibly turn a blind eye on the tears and the dying agony of an entire nation? It is exactly the same way we are observing the eradication of an entire nation in Syria. Everyone is washing their hands and claiming that it’s a civil war, and one of the participating parties is Al-Qaeda, but isn’t it just a coward’s excuse? Had the free world dealt with this issue on time, and had they intervened against the dictator Bashar Al Assad, they would have prevented the growth of terrorism and extremism. Let us not forget that what most Syrians wanted was just what every American, Japanese, South Korean or European has – liberty! I can’t understand how people – most of those who have political power at their disposal – can possibly watch all those wounded and starving children washing the mud of their faces with their young salty tears, while their little trembling hands are holding on to the lifeless hands of their mothers in the demolished streets of ancient Syrian cities. Where has mankind’s conscience gone? I can’t understand the indifference and the apathy of the Arab Union. Where is your conscience, sheiks? Are the cries of the Syrian children no business of yours? Does making money always come first? Do you think that the man in the mirror is not waiting for you? If you have lost your faith, well, I didn’t lose mine! Yes, you world politicians and wealthy sheiks, this may sound strange to you, but a poor poet’s faith is much bigger than you can possibly imagine. Why? Because liberty can’t be bought with gold and diamonds. It can only be earned through human honor and dignity, and this is exactly why I believe that it’s still not too late to help the Syrian people, because most of the rebels (the Free Syrian Army) is still fighting for a country in which every person, regardless of race, gender or religion will have an equal chance to live, which means that they are fighting for the same values the free world is advertising. The freedom of the Syrian people is the key to victory, not just over the dictator, but global terrorism as such. The world media should eventually realize that the Syrian rebels aren’t terrorists, and that there is no civil war in Syria. The truth is that the army and the mercenaries of Basharr Al Assad are conducting a massacre against their own people, which means that this is a struggle of the people against the dictator and not a civil war at all. There is a revolution in Syria! After all, the political leaders of the Syrian opposition have stated that they shall not accept any kind of terrorism, and that they are not about to divide people along religious lines, or get involved in pogroms the way Bashar Al Assad, who is portraying himself as the only one who can guarantee stability. The opposition wants the Syrian people to live in free coexistence with all religions, and that every Syrian may elect their own politicial representatives according to their own wishes and conscience, instead of having them imposed on themselves by Bashar Al Assad’s dictatorial dynasty. If the dreams of most Syrians would come true, there would no longer be tensions or wars in the Middle East, because this would also serve as a recipe towards achieving peace between Israel and Palestine. When everyone will have the freedom to respect the religions of others as their own, to respect other countries and nations, only then will the children, the mothers and the fathers be able to freely walk their respective paths of dreams and praise the Lord for the mercy bestowed upon them. Isn’t that the real purpose of life and happiness? Doesn’t that inspire the politicians and sheiks of the world to finally do what the conscience and heart commands? Yes, each person is fighting the two selves since the moment they are born, and each person has the freedom to choose between darkness and light. The rest is excuses. For how long will we be able to calmly watch a mad dictator like Assad kill the women, the children and the elderly with poisonous gases? This is what I’m asking the Americans. Have we still not realized that the message we are sending is that any future dictator can feel free to kill their own people in their respective countries, because it is of no concern to American citizens, who do not want to be the ‘global policeman’. What would the hero from Omaha Beach, who gave his life for the freedom of people whom he never met, think of this? There is a wonderful word, ‘dignity’, and its glorious power can be best understood from the example of the Omaha Beach hero. This is why I believe warriors (and those who kill civilians are no warriors) are like poets, because both are ready to sacrifice their lives for freedom.

Sadly, abundance and apathy are killing not just dignity, but also liberty in the free world. Let us not forget Shakespear’s wise words: “Plenty and peace breed cowards; hardness ever of hardiness is mother.” Are we really the free world? Are we really the citadel of freedom? Yes, every American should ask that question – what have I done to prevent an entire nation (North Korea, Syria etc.) from dying?Don’t you think that this apathy is also killing freedom within the citadel of freedom? Look at the man in the mirror who is asking you: What have I done to prevent millions of fellow Americans lacking health insurance? Turning your head is the easy thing to do, but is it humane? Aren’t we human beings, with a soul, who can feel compassion for other human beings? Or are we just clones who only care for themselves? Sooner or later, the deathbed awaits all of us, and we will have to settle our accounts. What have we done to make the world within us and around us a better place? And what have we left undone? These questions will follow us more closely than our own shadows on that ultimate voyage.

It is interesting to see that there are laws that say that addictions to alcohol, drugs or gambling are diseases, and this is right… but hey, I am yet to find a law that does the same for greed. The skeptic will tell you that this is because those who write laws are the greediest of all. On second thought, we shall realize that greed is a much more dangerous disease than the pest or cholera, because it goes beyond destroying the body – it destroys the soul too. Greed is the mother to many a dictator or conquering war. Sadly, it takes a war to defeat a dictator, and this is why I respect true patriots because, to me, the greatest of patriots is the one who helps his fellow men. If all people would reason along these lines, the world would be a much better place to live. And we don’t need much to create a world like that, it’s enough to take good care of the most merciful of the Lord’s gifts to man, which is freedom. If every person, regardless of race, gender or religion would have the same chance to live, and if this wasn’t a privilege of chosen political castes and their tycoon buddies, as is the case in this small and beautiful country of Croatia, and many other beautiful countries infected with corruption and dictatorship. Most of the world’s dictators are not likely to listen to wise advice, and some of the wisest advice comes from their brothers in greed from the ninth circle of hell in Dante’s Inferno: “You are what we used to be, and you shall be what we are now!” Come thinking of that, we all have our counsellors; whether they are up or down, and whether we shall dispense advice from hell or heaven, depends on the quality of our lives. We should never forget that once we depart, the size of the shadow we leave behind is proportional to the light that emanated from our souls while we were still alive. If we look closely into the eyes of the man in the mirror, we shall hear his advice: “Don’t forget to do good deeds in the present time, because the future is but the past returning through another door!”

Walter William Safar