‘Ride to Freedom’ and Other Poetry by Evan Mantyk The Society April 8, 2015 News of Note, Poetry In support of the national youth bike ride, Ride 2 Freedom. Ride to Freedom Riding, riding, riding fast, There can be no time to spare When the present becomes the past All that’s left is the heart that dares! Flying, flying, flying wheels That soar across seas and world To a land where Hatred’s head reels, From its mouth, propaganda’s hurled! Quickly, quickly, quickly save Children who are victimized, Working as a labor camp slave, Orphaned, tortured, criminalized! Freedom, freedom, freedom flies From the spokes that make us strong, Crushing state censorship and lies, Revealing peaceful Falun Gong! Virtue, virtue, virtue reigns, Truth, Compassion, Forbearance,* No price can be put on the pains, When you make such a difference! *”Zhen-Shan-Ren”: These are the three main principles of Falun Gong and can be translated in various ways. Are You Going to Tiananmen Square? After Simon and Garfunkle’s “Scarborough Fair” Written with Katy Mantyk Are you going to Tiananmen Square, Peaceful, sage, tranquil, and sublime, To appeal the injustice there? We will bring back hope to mankind. When she arrives there the smog seems to part. The grandmother has traveled many days; Sun beams blast into the red beast’s dark heart, For her will is a diamond-like array. We will make a clarion sign, Peaceful, sage, tranquil, and sublime, A banner with letters that shine, Then, we’ll bring back hope to mankind. Her blood flows as the bamboo stick is jabbed And the soft fingernail is torn away, No matter how deep, her soul can’t be stabbed; For her will is a diamond-like array. Traveling on foot across the land, Peaceful, sage, tranquil, and sublime, Worn out shoe soles and heart in hand, Then, we’ll bring back hope to mankind. Myriad lights and majestic colors Open to a palace in the Heavens; She joins the Angels and Buddhas in scores. Beaten and tortured, we won’t bow, Peaceful, sage, tranquil, and sublime, We’ll tell them “Falun Dafa Hao!”* Then, we’ll bring back hope to mankind. *”Falun Dafa Hao” means “Falun Dafa is Good.” Falun Dafa is another name for Falun Gong. Evan Mantyk is an English teacher living in New York. NOTE: The Society considers this page, where your poetry resides, to be your residence as well, where you may invite family, friends, and others to visit. Feel free to treat this page as your home and remove anyone here who disrespects you. Simply send an email to mbryant@classicalpoets.org. Put “Remove Comment” in the subject line and list which comments you would like removed. The Society does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or comments and reserves the right to remove any comments to maintain the decorum of this website and the integrity of the Society. Please see our Comments Policy here. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.