GUEST BLOG by SGT. SHERRILL on the CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE'S BLOG

In this season when we anticipate the birth of the Prince of Peace, this heartfelt poem by Sgt Sherrill expresses my own hope for the work that is going on in Afghanistan below the drones with the next generation - children so eager to learn and grow in whatever direction they are bent. What kind of education are they getting about the United States? Will the Central Asia Institute, Women for Afghan Women, other NGOs and the Sgt Sherrills of our military presence prevail or will the messages of the Taliban and our drones win the next generation? How will you participate in the outcome?

Behind the Wall
by Sgt. M. Douglas Sherrill, Jr.

I hear the voices behind the wall,...

While my weapon lies beside my gear, I do not fear,
These voices are small,
And even though their language is not my own,
I understand,
For they laugh,
They squeal, and shriek with delight.
They giggle and yell, and maybe even fight.
A little girl screams with glee chased by an older sibling.
No, I do not fear these voices, and
I do not to my mates call, “Stand To!”
No,
I do not fear the universal sound of children playing.
But,
There is another Voice behind that wall.
It cannot be heard, only sensed,
Its source cannot be seen, it has no form,
Cannot be touched,
And yet, we wrestle with it every day.
Yet even without form, In the hands of my Enemy,
It is a weapon.
This Voice, though not heard,
Calls out and recruits legions to my Enemy’s ranks.
This Voice,
This Weapon,
This Evil that thwarts my efforts for Peace,
Is Ignorance and Illiteracy.
My M16 cannot dispatch it,
My machine gun cannot pin it down!
Bombs dropped from planes and artillery shells
Cannot dislodge it from its entrenched positions!
Despondent and depressed I thought,
“If my weapons are of no avail, then how can this war be won?”
“What weapon will defeat my Enemy?”
Then,
I heard another Voice behind the wall.
“Hear Me, Use Me” it said
“Put down your guns, bombs, tanks and planes,
“Pick up a hammer, saw, nails and a Carpenters Square,
“Build Me schools!
“Fill them with books, pencils, desks, Teachers, and Children,
“Then, invite me in, for I am Knowledge.
“Only I can disperse the Darkness of Ignorance and Illiteracy.
“Only I can silence the Voice that recruits legions to your Enemy.
“And,
Then
“Slowly
“Over
“Time
“Your Enemy will be a memory”
So,
What Voices did you hear behind the wall today?
— Sgt. M. Douglas Sherrill, Jr.

November 1, 2011 – Guest Blog by Sgt. Sherrill on the Central Asia Institute’s Blog
 
EDITOR’S NOTE: Poetry is a lot of different things, but perhaps more than anything else it is one way of telling a story.
Abdul Jabbar, chairman of Central Asia Institute’s board of directors and a professor at City College in San Francisco, shared this poem Friday during a panel discussion on education and philanthropy in Chicago. The panel, which also included author Bapsi Sidhwa and educator Jerene Mortenson, was part of CAI’s “Building Bridges of Peace Conference: Dialogue through Philanthropy, Education and Storytelling.”
CAI co-founder Greg Mortenson gave Abdul the poem after he received it from Sgt. M. Douglas Sherrill, Jr, a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan. Sherrill wrote the poem after he read Greg’s first book, “Three Cups of Tea,” and gave Greg permission to share it with others.
Storytelling has become an integral part of how CAI communicates the depth and breadth of its work in the world. We are grateful to Abdul for both calling attention to this poem, and for reading it aloud to us.
— Karin Ronnow  http://www.ikat.org/cai-communique/