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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 10. May 22, 1974

Voice from an empty room

page 13

Voice from an empty room

Wellington The Editor Salient.

Dear Sir,

These poems were given to me to read by a young patient at Porirua Hospital named Sua Nathan. I think some of them art vary valuable statements about how people attempt to find meaning in life, sometimes finding it and often, not: and how people react to the institutions our society places them in.

I think the readers of Salient (well some of them) might be able to identify with some of the feelings that Sue has had although they have never been in that particular institution.

I tried to get Sue to fill in some biographical details but she wouldn't — the poems ready don't need much preamble other than what I have given you.

John Hull

I'm Lonely
I sit alone
In an empty room,
Listening to different sounds
That echo beyond these walls,
A lonely feeling rushes through me,
The echoing noises start to fade,
I'm left all alone.
In an empty room,
I look around me.
See nothing but a prison wall,
The shadow of darkness,
Creeps up on me,
My soul rests in peace
But as the dawn breaks
I wake and I find
Myself alone again.

Locked
I sit alone,
All day
With nothing on my mind.
But the thought
Of locked doors.
Why do they lock us up?
Does it satisfy them?
To see someone locked up?
All day
And every day.
Sometimes I wonder

Why
Why is it
That people have to fight
In this world?
Why can't there be peace?
What we need in this society,
Is more love,
And less hate.
But I suppose there would be no world,
If there was nothing just love.
It would do you good
If some people paid more attention,
To others than themselves

Painting of a man in cell

I'm Lost
I'm lost
Nowhere to go
No-one to care
I'm lost in a world of my own
No-one can help
Cause I've been lost for so long.

A Wave During a Storm
The thunder and lightning's very strong,
The rain is pouring down,
I feel so helpless
With a big storm over me,
And I'm just a little wave
Compared to the lightning —
Thunder and big raindrops —
Then all of a sudden,
Everything stops,
And is quiet again.

Freedom
It is a cold and windy night
I'm in my room
Listening to the raindrops.
That are rolling down my window,
Pitter — patter — pitter — patter —
I feel all lonely inside
And I think and think.
Of the outside world,
Wondering when I'll get out.
Of the place —
That has been a prison to me
Since my stay.
I long for freedom
But what is freedom?
Do we honestly know what it is,
Is it just to be by yourself?
Or out of locked doors?
No....
Freedom is something that we can
Individually enjoy —
Freedom is my wish