Noah Hale, “To Faraway Friends” – 1st Place High School Award
To Faraway Friends
by Noah Hale
Though there be crosses staked into the ground,
And holy scriptures mass produced and bound,
The church does not burn like infernal fire.
No–The land of the East builds that pyre.
There is a silent crusade of China’s men,
Who wield the blade of no pope nor nation;
They wear the fauld of the three truthful words:
Blue Zhen, Green Shan, and White Ren now downwards,
Yet the East looks up to the Red Star Men
To someday break free of the chains within.
Falun Gong shall ever live long and free,
And, if not, take my hand and burn with me.
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Winner of the 1th Place High School Award in FoFG’s 2017 Poetry Contest