POETRY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

Tibetan Homes Foundation

During the autumn of 2000, twenty-one students from classes 7-9 at Tibetan Homes participated in a 10-week Poetry Through Photography Project with volunteer Gregory Gutin. It was part of the Cross-Cultural Exchange Program with schools in California and New Mexico sponsored by Friends of Tibetan Women's Association. These poems were written in response to those sent by students at Turquoise Trail Elementary in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

WHO AM I?

I am a girl of Tibet called Sonam
I am from the land of His Holiness
I am from the land of the fragrance of devotion
I am from the highest plateau of the world
I am from the land of kindness
I am from the land of politeness
I am from the land of yaks
I am from Tibe
Ia m proud of myself that I am from tibet
My aim is to do something for my country
To be knind and to gon on the way
Shown by His Holiness.
If my life will be useful for my country
Then my dream will be real.
I like to write wheneve I am vey sad or happy
I love to write my feelings.
So I dan control my emotions.
My ideal is His Holiness the Dalai Lama
I always want to go on the way shown by Him.
I think there is nobody in the world
Who does not like Him.
His kindness, His dignity, His politeness, His humbleness,
His advice makes me want to follow
The path of His teaching.
I am a pupil of His Holiness.

– By Sonam Dickey, Class IX 'C'


WHERE AM I FROM?

Oh, God!! This question visits me Again and Again in
My heart,
Where am I from? Where am I from?
Alas, I have No answer for it
Because I am too young to answer it correctly.

I am doing my schooling here in India.
Oh, does this mean I am from India?
No! The answer comes from my heart
Without a second thought.

Night is so still and too silent.
My eyes observe what I can't hear
From a mute night.
But the only thing I can hear
Is the same question,
Where am I from?

It breaks all outer silence
Which is hidden within meaning of
"Where I am from?"

Yes, I come from the land of golden snow.
I look at my clothes
Which I wear so close to my body,
Like art made of ordinary sheep wool,
Green in colour.

My clothes are not only my uniforms,
But also my armour,
As it saves me from the dangerous sun.
The tie which I wear on my neck
Is not only my tie,
But also my dignity.

The pen, which I carry, is blue in colour
It is not only a pen,
But also a weapon
Which is going to peirce the heart
Of my enemy,
Peacefully, without pain.

At the moment, I am doing my studies
And I consider my school
Like a paradise on earth.
This makes my life so much better.
However, I still remember the question,
Where am I from?
It will always stay with me.
It is my duty as a Tibetan.
So, I am from the snowland
And, I am also a daughter of Tibet.

– By Youden, Class IX 'B'


WHO AM I?

I am a lover of flowers in my garden
Which gives me fragrance and attracts me.
I like to work in my garden every time.
In my imagination my garden appears very big.
The garden is full of flowers during the summer season.
Looking like a place of paradise.

I am a boy, who likes to roam in the forest,
Living in the forest like a lion,
Making a permanent house of branches from the trees,
Looking out over the environment of plants and wild animals
As well as doing studies about this environment
For the purpose of gaining knowledge about the forest.

I am a lover of trees on the earth
Which make their own food by the process of photosynthesis.
They help the animals of the earth during hot weather,
Providing a shadow for them to feel fresh.
They carry fruits all over their bodies
Feeding the animal with these fruits.

I am a lover of delicacies like ice cream
Which I am able to buy sometimes.
I look at them while passing across the shops,
Watering from the mouth at the time of being broke,
Or eating them at the moment of lunch break,
Feeling so fresh from this delicacy.

I am a child of efficient farmers
Who pat me on the back and love me a lot.
I am a boy, who often goes to the field,
Protecting the green fields in place of my parents.
I am a child of paupers from a peaceful village
Which helps me to be a simple person.

I am a citizen of my motherland Tibet,
Which is surrounded by snow covered mountain ranges.
Having a histoyr of thousands and thousands of years,
Annexed by the red Chinese in 1959, and still under the Chinese today.
I hope to get our country back from the Chinese.

I am a follower of a paramount leader
Who gives mercy to all the sentient beings.
He himself is a simple Buddhist monk.
I am a Tibetan refugee in India,
Living in the happy Valley village near Mussoorie.
Ths place reminds me of my peaceful village in Tibet.

I am a student of Tibetan Homes Foundation
Which was opened by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Being a patriot of my historical country,
I have a special purpose to study,
Saying prayers to God everyday
For the rising of the sun of happiness on my motherland.

– By Gyalpo, Class VIII 'B'


WHO AM I?

Who am I?
I am the sun, which gives light.
I will give a source of enery
And make photosynthesis
So, the plants can grow so easily
Nothing can stop my light.

Who am I?
I am the tree giving oxygen for living things.
Sometimes I absorb a lot of rain
To make the ground water pure
For drinking straight from the well
Parts of my body can be cut
To make different kinds of furniture
Therefore, I am so very important.

Who am I?
I am water.
No one can live without me,
Not plants, not animals, not even humans
I am one source of energy
Which can give life to this earth.
I am one of the biggest things in the world
And I cannot be exhausted.

Who am I?
I am the wind which is present all around
Sometimes when I am in a sad mood
I have lots of friends in this world
I cover the earth with my body
So no one can harm my friends

Who am I?
Actually, I am non of these things
I only take example from them
As I too am very dangerous and most potent

Who am I?
I am a boy of 15 years from Amdo in Tibet
Where I lived in a very poor family
Who could not read or write
I was also illiterate at that time
My parents sent me to India
To become a well educated person
So I can stand on my own feet
And help get back our freedom

Who am I?
I am a boy who came over Mount Kailash
Living without any food for three or four days.
Always walking in the night.
We had no chance to sleep or rest in any field
And couldn't see any houses or buildings,
Only the mountains
We were drinking our water from the running rivers.

Finally, who am I?
I am one of the humble students
Living at Tibetan Homes School in Mussoorie
I haven't any cousins in India
And all my family is in Tibet
With a miserable life
I am very luck to get a free education
By the grace of His Holiness
The 14th Dalai Lama.

– By Yumbu Gyatso

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