Tuesday, April 9, 2013

First Quarter, 2013, Fifth Selection



#92

"Tibetan sources tell VOA that another person has set himself on fire in western China as part of a protest against Chinese rule in ethnic Tibetan areas." --Voice of America News, December 3, 2012

Released from the cocoon of his face
rising butterflies of flame
unfold their wings
his eyes and lips have not
           yet been consumed
he seems engaged in his detachment
focused far beyond his immolation
but his robes are the color of a match head
           Tibetan red
           the match tip has just been struck
caught in the sight of a camera
and the combustion is still beginning.

--Wulf Losee

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