Who will Be This Land

In our class, the instructor wrote a saying on the whiteboard: If I leave my land, I am nothing.
She asked us to think about it.

I have left my homeland, is it true I am nothing? What I have right now? The only is this land I stand to the future.
This land, the North America, which is called New Landmass, I have landed several years.
What is the meaning of this land for people new coming?
What kind of question is for the people new coming?
It is:
Who will be this land?
Let us review the tow poems were written by the poets when they came to this land.

One is named: Nostalgia. The poet, Puerto Rican, who describes his nostalgia, which a feeling people get when they long for something good from past such the childhood or homeland, for his homeland.

“ Mamma, Borinquen calls me,
this land is not mine,
Borinquen is pure flame and here
I am dying of the cold.
In search of a better future
I left the native home,
and established my store
in the middle of New York.
What I see around me
is a sad panorama,
and my spirit calls out,
wounded by much nostalgia,
for the return to the home nest,
Mamma, Borinquen calls me!

Where will I find here like in my criollo land
a dish of chicken and rice,
A cup of good coffee?
Where, oh where I will see
radiant in their attire
the girls, rich in vigor,
Whose glances bedazzle?
Here eyes do not bedazzle,
This country is not mine!

If I listen to a song here
Of those I learned at home,
or a danza by Tavarez,
Campos, or Dueno Colon,
My sensitive heart
Is more enflamed with patriotic love,
And a hearald that faithful proclaims
This holy feeling
The wail “Borinquen is pure flame!”
Comes to my ears.

In my land, what beauty!
In the hardest winter
not a tree is seen bare,
not a vale without green.
The flower rules the garden,
the river meanders talkative,
the bird in the shadowy wood
sings his arbitrary song,
and here…The snow is a shroud,
Here I am dying of the cold.

Another is the poem, Ndakinna(Our Land) was written by poet Joseph Bruchac of the Abenaski tribe from the Northeastern United States.

“You cannot understand this land with maps,
lines drawn as if earth were an animal’s carcass
cut into pieces, skinned,
though always less eaten than thrown away.
See this land instead with wind-eagle’s eyes,
linked with rivers and streams like sinews through leather,
sewed strong to hold the people to the earth.

Do not try to know the land by roads.
Let your feet instead caress the soil in the way of deer,
whose trails follow the ways of least resistance.
When you feel this land when you taste this land.
when you hold this land as lungs hold breath
when your songs see this land,
when your ears sing this land,
you will be this land.”

Do not wonder what opposite feeling for the same land. It is the answer for who will be this land. People who finally chose this land with their passion for this land will be this land. It does not matter where you from are and who you are.
This land is a mystical wonderland not only has rich natural resources to feed the body, also has endless spirited source to nourish the mind.
The amazing New Civilization was created in this land after Renaissance of Europe. .
This broad land has embraced number of races who wanted to seek freewill from the old world.
When I luckily stepped on this land, when I widely touch this land, when I deeply rooted this land, I believed it is true.
What kind of impression I have gotten when I stood on this land?
It is like sighting the wide prairie after trekking on the rough path.
It is like finally reach the solid land from the marsh.
Do not worry we cannot enjoy this land. Now we are as weak as baby, the fulgent culture as the milk of land, will feed us strong as the cowboy.
You will be this land.
I will be this land.

No one should be killing

The most sensational work I have read in English is not a famous book; in fact, it is a short writing by the ten years old girl in Red Deer in 2006. Her mother, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was killed by a criminal. It moved me to tears full face, and it deeply changed my mind. From this girl, a real little angel, I finally believe that nobody should be killing in our world. I was born and grew up an old traditional country where someone should be killing is a supreme gospel that was never doubted, but Canada is one of countries were abolished capital punishment, that means the murderer could live in prison without execution. The little girl told us she really does not want all girls lost their parents. Nowadays, there are 78 countries still have capital punishment around the world. The capital punishment is not a valid reason to execute a murderer; as a result, it cannot effectively stop the crime of murder, and it can be another kind of murder, also it murders universal love and hope to murderers.
At first, radically and effectively avoid murder seems the good enough reason for capital punishment; actually, the results show it is not true. The Amnesty International reports of compare research had proved that some countries still had capital punishment were also the high crime rate of murder. Such as in 2003, 84 per cent of executions and over 80 per cent murders occurred in China, Iran, the U.S. and Vietnam in the world. Another example of Canada was abolished capital punishment in 1976; afterward, it still keeps the lower crime rate of murder. In addition, the criminological research pointed out that murder had the most complex factors, so simply execute murderer never really stop and reduce murders. For instance, some typical cases of murder, the situation of murder such as anger, misunderstand, and fear usually were the key to murder. Also, the criminal follow research reported that in number of cases only a little bit of murderers could commit crime of murder again. Therefore, the essential of avoid murder, in general, is that must reduce the situations of murder not only execute the murder.
Second, murders are completely wrong and the cruelest killing, but capital punishment sometimes made it again, and it murdered universal love and hope to murderers. Capital punishment is a difficult job to decide exactly, and it never be perfectly done since many reasons. For example, it almost still exists that some execution by mistake in all countries who persist capital punishment. It is like another kind of murder. It destroys the hope for government and murderer to change the terrible mistake. Moreover, the murderers’ relatives must suffer the infinite pain again as the victim’s family. A good example is in China; a young murderer’s all members of family went to the victim’s home to beg forgiving with the most possible expiation, only not killing the young murderer. The biggest wish for all criminal’s relatives is that can be any punishment even life-sentence only not capital punishment for criminal. Therefore, for punishment and protects society, prison is a better form to take away their freedom not execution.
To conclude, capital punishment is not a fair rule for humans. It cannot really avoid the murder, only show that killing people is wrong, but it kills again and show that someone should be killing. It murdered the universal love and plays the tragedy again for criminal’s relatives as victim’s family, also it destroys the hope that people can change, and even they have made terrible mistakes. To hear and remember the little angel’s voice: “no one should be killing”, either victim or killer, and for whatever reasons. When this voice rooted into the deep heart of everyone, humans will never kill other forever.