They Came
written by: Yucheng Tao
Tuol Sleng
like a poisonous flower
exhaling
a piercing venom.
The palm trees swayed
beneath the faltering shadow,
a procession of bones
—the dead—
labeled as intellectuals.
They came
like a gust of wind,
They came
like a herd of wild beasts.
They came
slaughter upon slaughter,
cursing Tuol Sleng,
damning its streets and rivers.
They regarded themselves as fanatical idealists,
But never, made the place a paradise.
Passion torched it into a fiery hell.
They came
with frantic lusts.
They came to Cambodia—
its flesh drenched in rouge.
When Tuol Sleng opened,
Moonlight buried people
in a sunken pit of earth.
None to cry those words:
“They came!”
Yucheng Tao is an international student at MI College of Contemporary Music in Los Angeles, where he is studying songwriting. With a passion for blending different musical genres, his work explores deep emotional themes and the complexity of human experience. In 2024, he won the Open Theme Wingless Dreamer contest, which led to the publication of his piece by Moonstone Art Center. Tao's creative expression is influenced by both his academic journey and his desire to evoke powerful narratives through music and lyrics.
Latest posts by Yucheng Tao (see all)
- Confessions of Death - September 5, 2025
- They Came - May 4, 2025
- Apocalypse-Skull-God - January 29, 2025
