BLUE SKY – CONTENTS

Lungta Banners
When I Gaze At Cloudless, Empty Skies
Prayer Flags, Emblems Of My Homeland
Lest We Forget
A Prayer
Petty Politics
Fifty Years Ago And More …
A Gathering Of The Braves
Without The Freedom To Practice Your Faith
You Lit A Spark
You Were A Tulku Without Doubt
How Long Must We Tolerate The Monsters Of This World?
Blue sky
I’d Rather Be A Simple Tibetan
Rumours Of Gesar
Tibet And China – Two Civilizations
I’m No Less A Tibetan …
Dictators Don’t Die Of Old Age …
Smiling Faces I
Smiling Faces II
Smiling Faces III
Fear Haunts The Chinese
The Tibetan American Dream I – Appearances
The Tibetan American Dream II – Reality
The Tibetan American Dream III – Reality Check
The Tibetan American Dream IV – The Only Tibetan Dream
The Chinese Emperor’s Ubiquitous Fears
The Snowlion And The Dragon
What Do The Chinese Believe In?
I’ll Pray To Be Reborn As A Tibetan Sheep
Prayer Flags Flying At A Height
A Message From The Lungta Banners
Sky Gazing
The Chinese Are 1.2 Billion Now

Lungta Banners

BLUE for sky.
White for clouds.
Red for fire.
Green for water.
Yellow for earth.

The elements,
All complete.

My Tibetan heart
Gladdens to see
Lungta banners
Fluttering gently
In the breeze.

When I Gaze At Cloudless, Empty Skies

WHEN I GAZE at cloudless, empty skies
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Clear blue skies. Vast and deep.
May my people be free again.

When I listen to the gurgling of brooks
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Rushing rivers and clean, pure waters.
May my people be free again.

When I smell the scent of fragrant flowers
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Massive mountainsides of medicinal blossoms.
May my people be free again.

When I taste the delights of a delicious meal
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Staple Tsampa and Thukpa. Tasty and nourishing.
May my people be free again.

When I touch the coat of an animal
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Huge herds of wild kyang racing the winds.
May my people be free again.

When I stop to think in quiet moments
My homeland hovers in my mind.
Lineages of enlightened masters teaching simple folk.
May my people be free again.

Prayer Flags, Emblems Of My Homeland

PRAYER FLAGS, emblems of my homeland.
Symbols of the elements and of peace.
Soaring into space. Always high,
Reminding me of the heights,
My homeland’s geography.

Prayer flags, emblems of my homeland.
Symbols of the elements and of peace.
Brilliantly displayed. Ever glowing,
Reminding me of the bright
And smiling faces of my compatriots.

Prayer flags, emblems of my homeland.
Symbols of the elements and of peace.
Constantly moving to and fro,
Reminding me of the never-ending suffering
Of my anguished people at home.

Prayer flags, emblems of my homeland.
Symbols of the elements and of peace.
Gentle rhythms riding the breeze,
Reminding my people, “In unity
There’s strength, so be in tune.”

Prayer flags, emblems of my homeland.
Symbols of the elements and of peace.
Seeing thee, my spirits soar. I’m glad to be.
Ki ki so so lha gyal lo
“May the gods be victorious”, I translate.

Lest We Forget

LEST WE forget
Our birthright,
Our rightful inheritance –
The land of our ancestors.
Sacred. Pure. Holy Tibet.
Unique roof of the world.
Take courage from our Guardian spirits.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

Lest we forget
The innumerable, pure
Enlightened beings
Who’ve trod on Tibetan soil.
Blessing and purifying all.
Unique beings of the earth.
Take courage from our unexcelled heroes.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

Lest we forget
The million and more
Tibetans that perished.
All because they posed
An innocent threat
To the violent Chinese hordes.
Take courage from our innocent brethren.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

Lest we forget
Our conscience-keepers.
Activist heroes
Breathing courage.
Languishing in Chinese jails.
Voices unheard. Bravery unsung.
Take courage from their actions.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

Lest we forget
Our uncertain future.
Children in Tibet
Humiliated by the conquerors.
Those outside, rootless.
Lulled by false mirages.
Display courage before their eyes.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

Lest we forget
Our neglected legacy –
Our freedom struggle.
For justice, truth and peace.
To be free humans –
Tibetans in a free Tibet.
With courage resist the barbarians.
Struggle on. Struggle on.

A Prayer

LUNGTA. Prayer flags
Riding the wind.
Magnificent miracle.
Riotous rainbow
Soaring high.
This prayer’s not printed.
It’s straight from my heart.

Kindly listen.
Sing this prayer
And send it on the airwaves.
Across the earth.
Across vacuous space.
Across the billion worlds.
Across infinite eternity.

“We Tibetans, have always tried
To be true, as humans should be.
So gods and deities all,
Give us unity. Give us freedom.
Give us peace. Give us victory.
Give us our homeland as of old.
Ki ki so so lha gyal lo.”

Petty Politics

PETTY people.
Polite people.
Petty politics,
Painful people.
Freedom struggle
Blown away to the winds.

Goals clear.
Great courage.
Guardian deities
Grant boons.
Freedom struggle
Raising the Lungta fearlessly.

Uniform rules.
Untruth exposed.
United stand,
Unyielding effort.
Freedom struggle –
Rangzen will soon be ours.

Fifty Years Ago And More …

FIFTY YEARS ago and more
They left their parched and famished land.
Entered Tibet in swarming droves
Promising a peaceful liberation.
Yes, they did liberate Tibetans
From their contended lives on earth.
Sent them packing to the hereafter.

Forty years ago and  more.
The late fifties it was.
Giving up their initial hesitation
They slaughtered en masse.
Imprisoned en masse.
Destroyed monasteries en masse.
World leaders watched the spectacle silently.

Thirty years ago and more
The deluded barbarians celebrated
Their orgies beyond their boundaries.
Hidden from the world,
They displayed their true colours.
A Cultural Revolution, organized
By an uncivilised civilisation.

Twenty years ago and more
Lost in time and space,
Unaware of their inhumanity
A few carrots they gave the dispossessed.
When the Dalai Lama’s reps arrived,
Tibetan spirits erupted again.
How confused and dumb the conquerors felt.

Ten years and more, it seems now
The Dalai Lama’s sincere intentions
Are countered with sly pretense.
Sweet words to the world outside
And threats and sticks to those at home –
The colonized, the oppressed, the silent
Majority in politically remote Tibet.

Today and tomorrow and in the coming days
Oppressors, you’ll realise you’ve bitten
Much more than you can digest.
The Tibetan spirit, once truly united
Uncrushable and all-powerful will be.
You’ll soon be packing your bags
On your way home, over the Great wall.

A Gathering Of The Braves

SOME MONTHS ago or so
On earth’s highest plateau,
Amidst the purest air,
The sweetest and clearest waters,
The oppressors just seemed
Too much for the enlightened boy.

And so some months ago
In Gesar’s land –
The land of the Faith,
The land of the sacred,
The land of valour and courage,
A conclave of the braves took place.

Although surrounded by the P.S.B.
And other treacherous creatures,
They met in utmost secrecy.
It was just the innermost circle.
Heard only by the guardian deities
The braves spoke minds and plans.

It was a desperate gamble
Fraught with individual repercussions.
It was to risk all for freedom’s air.
It was to give the slip
To the enemy – Crazy dictators
And their half a million warriors in Tibet.

Not a word escaped.
Not a sign was deciphered.
At the appointed hour,
Unsuspected and unheard
The enlightened boy
Jumped out of the window.

The boy, escorted
By a relay of braves
Rode across the plateau
Into neighbouring Nepal.
Into India and freedom
While the enemy warriors slept on.

Later when the victorious news
Spread across the plateau,
The inner circle of braves
Breathed a sigh of relief.
Smiled knowingly at each other
And secretly exclaimed,
“Ki ki so so lha gyal lo.”

Without The Freedom To Practice Your Faith

WITHOUT the freedom to practice your faith.
Without the freedom  to speak what you think.
Without the freedom to go where you please.
Without the freedom to call your home by its name.
Such is the state of Tibet these days.

A little oppression of one’s fellow beings.
A little servility towards the conquerors.
A little suppression of one’s feelings.
Even a little pretense in front of compatriots.
That’s all  within the realm of human tolerance.

How long can one endure one’s people’s humiliation?
How long can one tolerate veiled, vicious threats?
How long can one denounce all that’s sacred and pure?
How long can one be immune to plain-clothed guards?
How long can one pretend before one’s tormentors?

And so one day when it appeared
Too much of a price, for remaining at home,
Giving succour to your own beloved people.
Simultaneously dancing with wolves and inspiring sheep.
The Karmapa and his trusted circle made up their minds.

Some days later
Many miles away
Across the mountains
The courageous Karmapa
Breathed freedom’s air.