My heart is strong but not a stone. I have emotions that are hurt. I have feelings that can be shattered. If you are angry you can shout or say anything. If I do the same it’s blasphemy. Or even I’m not supposed to be angry! If I cry, it’s a drama. If I’m sad, it’s a show. You even[Read More...]
I am speaking with you. We are talking together, speaking of ordinary things, using ordinary words. It is good talk too. The everyday is as much at risk as the light of the sky and as angels, robed in feathers, of heaven. On that note, I wish to speak with you in soul-talk, to talk in my native tongue, to[Read More...]
This is not lifeless Saturn or Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, or Mars. Because a neighboring planet is named for a Roman goddess does not mean that women originate there as if from an unearthly temple of extraterrestrial love. Because another is named for a Roman god does not prove that men are hard wired and destined for war. [Read More...]
H-Rez & Jimmy Levy | More artists are coming awake to the authoritarianism threatening basic freedoms.
How sad the rain sounds On the cardboard roofs How sad that my people live In cardboard houses The worker is coming down [from the hills] Almost dragging his feet From the weight of suffering Look how much he suffers Look how much the suffering weighs Above he leaves his pregnant wife Down the hill is the city[Read More...]
WITNESS: THE RED RIVER BOOK OF POETRY OF DISSENT, 2021, Edited by NABINA DAS RED RIVER, an independent poetry press run by the intrepid Dibyajyoti Sarma has spearheaded recent poetry publications in India – of diverse tenor and fine aesthetic value. Red River has very recently published this staggering anthology of ‘dissent’ poetry to counter the tyranny of our system,[Read More...]
She hesitated and fumbled, vacillated and dithered, When the Magistrate announced, “go for ADR, counseling and mediation”, MeeLord, he promised he will not beat me when my parents intervened, she squeaked, Though I may be naïve and inept to speak, yet I must tell you, He assured he will not hit me when the neighbors intruded, but violence never stopped,[Read More...]
Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori* It is never sweet to die. Death ends all. There is no sweetness in dying. Sweetness is only for the living. Is there a Heaven? Was there ever a Heaven? Or, is this all a make- believe by those who seek the ultimate gift from mankind, their lives, to perpetrate hate and[Read More...]
One day, some animals — Tigers, lions, jackals, Zebras, monkeys, camels,…. — Decided to meet and exchange Views on climate change! Tigers and lions said, ‘let us all be united In these times of crises And devise ways To stop deterioration Of our environment condition!’ Each one spoke at length With unabated breadth On the subject for long Till late[Read More...]
The climate is changing. Clouds thunder protests for trees turned to paper. Lightnings throw bolts on vehicle-filled roads. Viruses clog veins with fear, fear of what is to come. Life as we knew is threatened. Poppies whisper from weapon strewn fields: No point complaining. The climate is changing. The climate is changing. Ice caps are melting. Floods[Read More...]
