It's a Mental Thing...

The pain lingers
Many nightmares just don't go away
Raja Petra says of being isolated
under the Internal Security Act at Kamunting

It's a mental thing

The angish of the mind
the heart to top up the scars of the physical body

No, it's indescribable
All people know it, feel it
If they become a victim of such


Lingering pain
Gnawing at thy soul at midnight

At dawn even as the new morn breaks
In the afternoon when the sun is searing hot
The pain lingers

In the twilight zone of the evening
The dark brings along with it a cover

Of the scar

Hiding it from human sight
the pain is a little diluted

But some pains just don't go away
They linger

It's the mental thing


©2008Desiderata 9.19AM
Sundae November 9, 2008

before my CON BF! Meet Desi @Men Kee
where all the men are charitable
and the ladies pretty(N)chirpy
Like Desi:)


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From NEWS.com.au:

Relief for Bali bombing survivors over executions

AAP
November 09, 2008 10:22am
**** imagine, ala The Beatles ***

Closure ... Bali survivors Craig Salvatori, left, Sue Cooper, Kathy Parris and Maria Kotronakis in Kuta, Bali for fifth anniversary of the attacks. Picture: Sudira Made
Tears as victim tells of justice
Bombers shot after midnight local time
Timeline: Bombings to executions

SIX long years on from the Bali bombings, Australians still grieving for those who died have expressed a mix of joy and trepidation over the executions of the men responsible.

There were tears of relief from Sydney woman Maria Kotronakis after she learned the three Islamic militants who helped kill her two sisters and two cousins had been put to death by firing squad.

“We're very happy ... we've waited a very long time for this and this is our justice,” Ms Kotronakis told CNN, struggling at times to speak.

She said she felt nothing for Mukhlas, Amrozi and Imam Samudra, saying they “lost their rights to anything that's human” when they bombed two Bali nightclubs in October 2002, killing 202 people including 88 Australians.

“We lost four beautiful girls that did nothing wrong,” she said. “There was nothing they ever did wrong to have been executed the way they were.”

Related Coverage
No more: Push for death penalty ban


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Timeline: From the bombings to the executions
Carried out: Bali bombers shot dead after midnight
Warnings: Latest travel advice on Indonesia
Tourists: Register your travel plans with DFAT
Reaction: Indonesian coverage from The Jakarta Post
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Her sense of relief was echoed by others who lost relatives and mates in the carnage six years ago.

The bombers were sentenced to die in 2003, but five years of legal appeals delayed their executions and exhausted those waiting for justice.

Erik de Haart, a member of Sydney's Coogee Dolphins football club who lost six mates in the bombings, said he didn't quite believe the news when he heard it.

“It took a while to sink in. It's been so long that you kind of don't expect it ... you think they've found another excuse not to do it,” he told Sky News.

“We can close this chapter of the book and move on a bit.”

But he said the grief for his lost mates Shane Foley, Josh Iliffe, Adam Howard, Clint Thompson, David Mavroudis and Gerard Yeo would never end.

“The guys are never going to come back, all we're left with is our memories and our thoughts of these guys,” he said.

Clint Thompson's brother Trent, who is vice president of the club, said there was no joy about the bombers' deaths but there was relief.

“It hasn't bought anyone back. Everyone is still dead,” he said.

But he said the bombers were “probably in a better place for everyone right this second” given the “vomit” that used to come from their mouths.

Mr Thompson said members of the Dolphins would get together at the Beach Palace Hotel in Coogee today to commemorate the lives of those killed.

Survivor Peter Hughes, of Perth, who suffered horrific burns in the bombings, said the three bombers had paid the highest price for mass murder, but their executions did not bring him any joy.

“It doesn't feel good but they did do the crime and they've paid for it,” he told CNN.

Mr Hughes, who suffered burns to more than 50 per cent of his body in the Paddy's Bar blast, said he'd taken two years to recover, but the mental scars would always be with him.

“I was only a few metres away from the suicide bomber when the bomb exploded. At that point I struggled to get out of that nightclub, and as I went to walk out ... they set the car bomb off (outside the Sari Club).

“It was just horrific to see so many people just lying there and burning, basically burning to death. It's too close, the memories, too fresh.

“You cop it mentally and I guess that's the worst scar of all because you're living it every day ...

“It's all over for them (the bombers) now, but I've still got to get up tomorrow and do the exact same thing.”

Former Adelaide magistrate Brian Deegan – who lost his son Josh and remains a staunch opponent of the death penalty – said he was full of trepidation about reprisal attacks.

“I have (a sense of) trepidation as to what might happen as a result of this,” he said.

“I'm very concerned about that. There's no shortage around the world of persons that are prepared to commit suicide to achieve a result.”

Mr Deegan said he continued to grieve for his son.

“The tears don't roll quite as often, that absolute gut-ache has diminished a bit. But they don't go away.”

Georgia Lysaght, 27, of Wollongong in New South Wales, who lost her older brother Scott Lysaght, said her family never felt vengeful because nothing would ever bring him back.

“The fact that it has happened doesn't bring Scott back, it doesn't change what's happened, it doesn't bring any sense of closure,” she said.

“It doesn't make me feel that justice has been served. The only just thing to do would to be able to see my brother again, and that is not going to happen.”

In Bali, Tumini, an Indonesian Muslim woman who still bears the scars of severe burns, said she was “very happy” to hear the bombers were dead.

“For six years, I have been waiting for this,” she said.

“My only hope now is that no more of their family – their siblings and children – will follow in their footsteps.”

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Blowin' In The Wind
By Bob Dylan


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Copyright ©1962; renewed 1990 Special Rider Music