Inspired by heart-rending tragedy and accounts of unyielding courage, poets are taking up their pens to commemorate the May 12th catastrophe. Some ordinary people also are becoming poets. "Poems of the Rubble", a collection of poems about the Sichuan earthquake has just been released.

Inspired by heart-rending tragedy and accounts of unyielding courage, poets are taking up their pens to commemorate the May 12th catastrophe.(Photo: CCTV.com)

"Poems of the Rubble" offers a different narrative of the disaster. The book contains 85 poems, giving voice to the chaos of emotion that cannot fully be expressed in ordinary terms. But these poems, as a collective memory have much to say. For many of the writers, the poems are their only way to give expression to their sentiment.

Pan Ziqiang, editor-in-chief, Zhuhai Publishing house, said, "Normally published poems are works by professionals. Two thirds of the poems in this collection are written by people who never have had anything published. The expressions are raw, the words are plain. It shakes the reader."

Some of the poems have been made popular on the Internet. These include "Baby, hold mama's hand tightly", "All of us from Wenchuan", and "At the moment, we feel we have a powerful homeland." The poems not only recount the drama of the event, but the unflinching solidarity of people joined together with one purpose, one mind.

A reader said, "I feel this poetry collection is very timely. Many of the poems are deeply moving, like the one called 'Baby, don't be afraid'."

Zhuhai publishing house will donate its earnings from the book to disaster relief. More books about the Wenchuan earthquake are on the way.

(CCTV June 6, 2008)