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There's An Echo In My Ears

by Anggun Wahyun

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Anggun Wahyun, a teenager from Suak Ribee, Indonesia, wrote this poem to express her thoughts after the tsunami. She remembers people running and praying to Allah when the tsunami struck and says there was confusion everywhere. At one point she thought she was drowning but her hand touched someone else’s. She realised it was her younger sister and this gave her the motivation to keep struggling so they could be saved. Her brother-in-law lost his life and Anggun saw hundreds of bodies.

After 10 months of living in a temporary camp, Anggun and her family moved into a house constructed through a Salvation Army project. She says she is very happy because she didn’t expect such a gift.

Anggun hopes the tsunami is like a dream which will never happen again. She has lost family and friends but now she faces the future with renewed hope. She has a simple message for The Salvation Army: ‘Terima kasih’ – ‘Thank you for your loving care and for giving my family a helping hand.’

There’s an echo in my ears:
A thousand tears,
A thousand screams,
A thousand plaintive cries
From all that was innocent.
There’s an image in my eyes:
A thousand reaching hands,
A thousand teardrops
From all that was innocent.
There’s a dream in my sleep:
A thousand dead bodies
From all that was innocent.
It seems the earth is broken in two
By you, tsunami.
I’m sure it’s not the end of life
But this is a warning against human neglect.
So please realise, for all time,
For our sins we beg for forgiveness from God our Creator.

Anggun Wahyun
Translated from Bahasa Indonesia
With thanks to Lieut-Colonel Geoff Blurton

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