This poem captures a real life event from the 1997 movie ‘Paradise Road’. A group of English/Dutch women survived the atrocities in a Japanese camp in Sumatra, during World War II, by forming a vocal orchestra (not choir) . They presented over 30 classical compositions during 3 years of their captivity. <br /> <br />The purple haze settled over the mangroves, <br />The singing cricket came out in droves, <br />In this Sumatra of thorny fences, <br />Alert to the cocked guns, stood the senses. <br /> <br />The violins and pianos were unneeded, <br />The starved ragged bodies were unheeded, <br />Voices were melodiously raised to a majestic task, <br />In the gentle glow of life, the women basked. <br /> <br />When upon them, injustices and indignities were hurled, <br />The symphonic grandeur of Dvorak’s New World, they unfurled, <br />With music in their hearts, they shrugged the poison asinine, <br />Peacefully hummed mesmerizing tunes sublime. <br /> <br />Helpless and beaten by life no more, they strode, <br />Toward their ample blissful silken abode, <br />Proud to have walked the Paradise Road.<br /><br />Madam Anonymous<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/paradise-road/
