The Buddhas of Bamiyan, by Lottie Erikson

Two women walk past the huge cavity where one of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, known to locals as the "Father Buddha," used to stand, June 17, 2012. The monumental statues were built in A.D. 507 and 554 and were the largest statues of standing Buddha on Earth until the Taliban dynamited them in 2001. Afghanistan. Sgt. Ken Scar / Public domain

The Buddhas of Bamiyan

The pair of great stone statues, 
taller than thirty ferengi soldiers
standing each atop the other’s shoulders,
if such a trick can be imagined,
were guardians of our Valley
for longer than my people
can remember.

In summer’s heat our children ran circles 
round the statues’ feet to make a breeze,
held themselves stiff like tent pegs, 
then rolled in and out of the crevices
between the monstrous cold stone toes

               Big toe, middle toe, pinky toe.

The old men say their fathers’ fathers’ said
the statues were faced with gold once.
Gods brought from the East, then forgotten.
The old women say the statues were lovers, 
who, for their sin, were cocooned
in the sandstone cliffs.
Near enough to hear the other’s heart beat
but never again 
to touch.

I wanted to see stone yearning toward stone.
That was my sin.
One morning I stripped off the blue burka 
with its eye slits 
that made my world dim and narrow,
looked upon the golden cliffs 
and understood the majesty of the faceless Gods.

              I will carry the dishonour of my act and that light
             within me forever 
             like a black lamb and a white one.

In the fighting season 
when the Taliban came
we ran with our children 
into the painted caves 
deep behind the statues. 

             Hide what you love. 
             They will smash it first 
             to kill you faster.

After the victory, 
they took our men away
and declared the statues 
an affront to piety.
The ritual cleansing of the Valley  
with tanks, bombs on long sticks, artillery 
lasted twenty-five days.

When the stones of the statues were dust 
in our mouths and eyes
they rejoiced, 
and brought nine fat cows to slaughter.

Lottie Erikson 

Lottie Erikson studied English Literature at Tulane University in New Orleans. Her first job after college was as Poet-in-Residence working with institutionalized populations in Louisiana. Most of her adult life has been spent living and working in other countries as an agricultural development specialist. She retired from Islamabad, Pakistan to the mountains of North Carolina in 2017.

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