February, the month of love, is now coloured by incarnadined cries from battlegrounds.   Irrawaddy has turned red. Dneiper weeps ashes and blood. Yet, red roses will distribute love bought in supermarket splendour.   Bombings in Beirut, Peshawar. Ring the bells for love till bombs are incapacitated to hate. This February, ring the bells.   Lay red roses on graves[Read More…]

nothing is more important than the colour of a bikini nothing is more important than to be against ‘love jihad’ supposedly being represented on screen nothing is more important than if a scene in a movie was removed or not ban it burn it or kill them all let the small girlchild continue eating from the garbage can foraging in[Read More…]

The woman who viewed my life on-screen, said, she cried in class retelling it. She asked me, have I at any time smiled thereafter ! She is from India. On the final evening of my life, I walked away from home in the direction of Syria. I coaxed my legs, assuring it of meeting a father somewhere. I walked towards[Read More…]

Death Sits at the dinner table with me He has Impeccable manners Never touches anything Never talks out of turn Truly A somewhat amiable chap Except He has the nasty habit Of compulsively looking At his watch And then grinning at me His knife and his fork Mesmerizingly glistening In his bony white fingery traps While kicking me under the[Read More…]

I searched long for You In the infinite fields Of Being I followed the myth Of your laughter I composed What I thought Was the heart Of Your Song I kept my ear Close To the coming Of any wind That might reveal The stealth Of your sudden approach But as I wandered A life spent In the concept Of[Read More…]

He stands on the Rock the beautiful rock beside the flourishing Tree of Life.   He stands on the Rock on the beautiful rock beside the flowing river of light.   He raises his arms like wings of lightning two beacon-flames of luminous fire.   His voice goes out with the strength of a ringing bell with softness of a[Read More…]

[My tribute to the immortal love poems of my favorite poet of Bengal, Sunil Gangopadhyay.] My first love was a foggy blur Over my familiar world of twenty springs. He stretched over, with his eager eyes, His moving lips, his thrusting loins Eclipsing everything I thought, was my own terrain, Yet, I could never touch the contours of his desires,[Read More…]

The Flesh on the Cross It is a great meditation It is a great Truth Of the World The nails of our traitors Slowly bore into us As we call out our mad pain Into the Cold Nothing As our betrayed heart exhausts Itself In the callous hands Of an unseen God Dan Corjescu teaches at the University of Tübingen’s “Studium[Read More…]

One who practices caste is a devil That devil has to be driven out of India India must be made a country of equality. The tiller must sow the letters of English Our soil must become a global knowledge power Caste has cultivated mindlessness The anti-caste pen will have to change India. Nationalism is not casteism Caste and race were[Read More…]

They chained you Made you know Inside and out What it is like To be rock They taught you The secret hardnesses of time The Gorgon Face Of the clock You made love To the death of hope And a little water And a little bread Was given To strengthen you Into the shrill mockery of the sea You count[Read More…]

The Gangsters were all waiting for me Their uninvited guest Their cigarettes were all lighted Their black ties were all straight I owed them without knowing And now had to pay them with my fate There was nowhere I was going Without their golden licence plate My life was theirs from the beginning There was no hand that I could[Read More…]

Young with the wisdom Of an elder Unfair. No childhood. That’s your life   Not allowed ever To be angry Not allowed to raise Your hands   Smile through it Take it well Extend your love Never act   Poise Is a cage Poise Is torture   But that’s what you want from me.

Stand at attention All you dogs And make fire for me Do not take the white branches From under the sea Leave me the Winter’s song On my tired breast Make nice with the West wind As the children run me down Cackling To the River There is an angry march Coming Red battalions of Revenge Flooding All your neat[Read More…]

I’m not really a poet I’m anti-gravity I’m stale mashed potatoes and gravy I’m what’s left out After your last pay check I’m the last words your wife says Before she kicks you out I’m the bum you most want to avoid Nah, I ain’t no poet I’m the lamplight the city always Forgets to fix I’m smallpox I’m aphasia[Read More…]

Stretching into love again After a hiatus of years Lips need old lips To see past new tears Our hands hung In Time’s hammock Patiently waiting For a rose Moon To lift moist memory From its quiet Garden Though lovers’ love is past And youth’s blind passion Now splashes in the hurrying verse Of loving recollection Your warm words have[Read More…]

All the chicken heads Are hung against the wall And in invisible velvet rooms Choice chokes on power And the stupid dance Of commanded wraiths Processes its time Declares victors’ empty victory Only the machine is glorious Structure is Caesar While the plebeians play dice Under a Lotto Number Soaked in blood Dan Corjescu teaches at the University of Tübingen’s “Studium[Read More…]

You are not a great poet The swan does not stir No flower bends No mouth opens for more breath The universe remains steadily in place All the clocks tick The crows cabal The evening doesn’t give a fig All masters are at ease You will not swim to any distant shore The red banner is not lifted And freedom[Read More…]

[Dedicated to the fiery, undying spirit of the phenomenal modernist author Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882-March 28, 1941)] ‘They are hybrid creatures, neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species. Nevertheless the present specimen, with his narrow hay-colored wings, fringed with a tassel of the same color, seemed to be content with life.’ –The Death of the Moth[Read More…]

You are not just a name on the ballot. You are more than that. A flowing stream. A shady tree. A roaring ocean. A breeze of fresh air. The song of a hummingbird. The sound of the cricket in my backyard that gives me hope of a living earth. Your fight isn’t yours alone. You are an embodiment of a[Read More…]

I’ve seen the faces of those who work for you Your money is made on the backs you broke Of their blood, sweat, and tears And cheap labour I have seen the agony on their faces Smelled the cheap liquor they are forced to imbibe to forget As their women struggle and their children grimace As they lay down for[Read More…]

I am of flowers. I came out from the butterfly. I came out from the bee, the dancing bee – the hummingbird’s feathered breast.   Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, the face of life was a flowers’ face. Flower perfume recited out song. Flower petals inscribed our naming across deserts and grasslands.   At a time[Read More…]

Do they have a choice — all these unfledged young hands that crumble under the   weight of guns— not to fight a war that is not theirs? Could his army choose to disobey Sauron?   The world watches as they decimate towns, cities, humans in the name of a cause that grew out   of a debt-ridden soul, a[Read More…]

Looking inward Found arrows Shot to forestall my growth. Trying to dismantle the chain, Threw back the arrows, Culminating in a painful war, Where the loved one Stood amidst. Looking outside, Found number of errors, Where a woman is mocked for her irrationality, Labelled as “immature” for her actions and being Questioned of her whole existence, Conditioned and crushed for[Read More…]

House: house made of wood is on fire. Fiery winds blow our ashes away. Burning forests and the grasslands.   House: house made of clay. Raging waters wash towns away. Death by drowning the epic ooze.   House of storms house of stars without a roof without foundation. Children of thirst frail with hunger. Dreamers not dreaming the haven of[Read More…]

September is the cruelest month, babu We are daily labourers We are kiln workers We are domestic maids We are casual agricultural hands It is a lean season, babu And we are pushed to the walls Of seasonal hunger and recurring wounds We sell pots and pans And keep our empty stomachs at bay It is the month of diarrhea[Read More…]

My head, the Kanchanjodga, aches. My eyes shed tears as Yamuna Washing the feet of the Taj. Satpura, my chest, chokes. The saline breeze of Point Calimere Brings murmurs of pain. Satkoshaia’s solemn silence Froze into greater depths. The elephants of Silent Valley Suspended entwining their trunks. The extinguished Sabarmati Languishes in her grave. The Great Indian Hornbill chick Fears[Read More…]

How easy it is to be a patriot All I need is a pic of a flag and a frame given free on FB and when I go out to wear white or ethnic and pin on a flag put it in front of my house for all to see and on my car or scooter/bike Say Bharat Mata ki[Read More…]

Ideas are hard to curb even if voices are silenced. Ideas will float in the air, waft on a sunbeam till they   embed themselves in more minds. Ideas will find wedges in time and ride over tides of violence, intolerance   forced silences and crimes. They will invade dreams till the magic of stardust blows sandstorms of love.  [Read More…]

I love my children. I love my grandchildren. And have deep concern for the youth of the Earth. Who and what do you love? What we value defines who we are. Who we are is shaped by what we love. My doctor and I are talking about despair, depression, hopelessness and the upset of constant stress.  I say, “I am[Read More…]

While razing the house of a Muslim family and setting them on fire with kerosene the man was thinking of the Buddhist monastery he planned to visit in Bhutan. It was his long drawn wish to meditate on the mountains where the air was thin.   Meanwhile the wails of the hapless family floated back to his ears and he[Read More…]

A victory For life’s sanctity? But not for the living. Black Lives were not sacred Gun-dead children neither Hungry kids- -freeloaders War-dead deserved it Snowflakes if seeking help Desperate mothers in a synthetic jail Beating our hearts to death Hated the moment born Lumumba in the Trunk The Sanctity of Life The Big Lie works When you believe it

I watch you from afar, you stand with your back against a wall, and a firing squad in the front! The first shot is fired… …but no instant death, It was at your name! The second shot also doesn’t kill, it was at your attire! Next one was at your meal on the table! And the next one at your[Read More…]

Save…Save…Save Every life Every water drop Even every broken vessel All can be mended Even those ripped apart Nurturance Empathy Compassion   And so She would ceaselessly Murmur As the timeless brook Of centuries Old in years But an adolescent dreamer Holding on To revival Resurgence Resurrection     The grand lady Of an age-old manor Mother…grand mother Of so[Read More…]

Standing frozen in a dark pond of shit Filling my neck with stink and puke I looked around to see many others breathing With their heads above the dark liquid shit Souls filled with fear to look around or down. Then I saw a reflection of light twinkling Penetrating the shadows of the leaves Of a mango tree of hope[Read More…]

The images that I saw on screen Could never compete with the images in real life The magic lantern never had The magic of real life. Stories were too many To blast any troubled brain With experiences and ideas unlimited. In an attempt to reduce life in frames The creation of images became superior To the creation of life itself.[Read More…]

The battle rages on For reasons little known War and hunger Symbiotic One nourishing the other Fiercely…   Women clutching their offspring And in their clasped palms The seeds of sunflower As roots cling soil For an identity For survival…   The nightingale’s plaintive song Across drooping branches of willow Across all barrenness To the Creator… Dr. Supatra Sen, Associate[Read More…]

(A Dystopian Nation) Under the rubble of a whole nation we have only phalluses billions of phalluses nothing else where history is edited and the future is smoky phallus rules everything. Everything for phallus phallus for everything. Every hour four women are raped Innumerable vaginas tattered Millions murdered Some burnt alive Deep inside me a phallus rules my anatomy threatens[Read More…]

For the Turban-headed Orthodox I am their headline of meets and seminars Yet, they keep me out of every stage And gloat about Islam’s Equality age   For the self-serving Extremists I am the trump card of revolution They appropriate my name and form To escalate their identity game   For the liberal Agnostic I am the eternal victim Of[Read More…]

The fervour of coming back, and the inbuilt resilience of the exiles, to mould from the debris, that was whatever, that forced us back ahead the end of war.   Even the coming back to a defeated homeland was enthralling, we built tall dreams en route, clinging to mirages, as though, nothing came about, and sought ways to wipe out[Read More…]

Air and water both flow And mix and merge Neither lives But give life   Noises echo Voices carry Smells and sounds Join us together   Colors can run If they touch Languages mesh At meal time   Not yours Not mine Not his, hers or theirs We are bound together

No No Muslim was killed in Gujarat No Muslim is being killed now The vendor* was not selling fruit No one vandalized his cart in Karnataka   No No bird is dying from drying rivers The rivers are not being throttled to die The Yamuna is not full of toxic foam   No No politician is spewing hate Yati Narasinghanand[Read More…]

Turmeric, turmeric– coppery-golden spice! Rubbed on fish, rubbed on chicken– it’s finger-lickin’ good! Add it to rice, drink it in tea– a little bit goes far! It can save your life, chase the blues away, reduce the stress and strife! Shake it out and give a shout– you’ve found a true elixir! Let the military band retire, let War and[Read More…]

What was it that they thought to own? Decades, centuries kept intent intact. And, still it calls us, stone by stone, To eke out meaning from mere fact. Observatory, temple, some Cheops’ whim, Or shaman’s riddle in which power hid? To appease the gods—or find them? They worshipped trees; dancing, they understood. We are mute questioners–beguiled; Token pilgrims properly impressed.[Read More…]

1. Putin! Putin! There’s really no disputin’! You’re a liar and a louse And you look like a mouse! Get out of our House! This House we call “Earth”! That’s ours from our birth! Don’t kill the babies With your kind of rabies! We’ve been thru this before— This plague we call “War”! The generals praise… While Earth rots and[Read More…]

The entire city is smelling of burnt human flesh all are smelling same – the flesh of the children, pregnant women and newly wed couple. We learnt today fire does not know how to differ bones It burns all – old bones and young bones in the same vigor. In an auditorium in Kolkata the city of the Babus all[Read More…]

  The angel of death with a man’s face; the mother of life comforting children.   Here is where we are a planet shaken by war.  People riven.   We come to a turning point in the guilty history of crime.   We gather to listen to witnessing voices of blood and corpses.   Every one of us, deliberately or[Read More…]

(Mahatmajir Proti) Sukanta Bhattacharya (1926-1947) Translated © 2022 from the Bengali by Monish R Chatterjee   Of our teeming 400 million, I too am one, I know Abruptly in the airwaves I’ve heard the pronouncement – The great moment in my life has arrived, instantly wiping away All apprehension and cowardice.  The drumbeats of exultation Ring out in my bloodstream: [Read More…]

Eat this. There is not much time for eating. We fight and food is scarce and getting scarcer.   Maybe this is our last supper? Perhaps the world is ending?   This shattered bone-bread is bodies of our people – fallen, falling bread crumbs and scattered black seeds of sunflowers.   Citizens who are dismembered sleep now, never to waken[Read More…]

That was at what time, our mother said, “we were working out on a journey with friends and relatives.” We were joyful. We departed by picking lonesome paths, that carried eerie charge. I was but eight.   Mother said, people walked all the way through wars. It was in contrast to whatever we conceived it to be. We did not[Read More…]

Oh Yemen, I’m sorry That No one remembers you That You are not White That You are not Christian That You were attacked by the “good guys” I know you have solidarity With the people Of Ukraine Even if No one remembers you

Nights are on the panics, you filled your gun with bullets; Nights are dreadful, you shield and polish your weapons with great pride. Pride – your pride costs how many lives? You caress your pride like a baby, your only child is your weapon. Time has come; you’re ready to take charge, Your baby is well prepared- your gun is[Read More…]

The Russian predator by Ra Sh Once again, there is blood on Neruda’s streets. Once again, there are those sickening images of mothers grieving for their sons, of families looking for their bread winners, of little girls picking blood splattered flowers, of airplanes bombing housing colonies. Once again, war photos will fill pages. One will get the Pulitzer prize. Many[Read More…]

Let us write poetry in memory of peace. Let us write poetry of love in times of war.   Erasing the anger, the hate, let us sing love songs for skies without warplanes,   horizons without clouds of mushrooms. Let us with love deluge, fill human hearts with   hope for the war to end, an ability to transcend walls drawn by[Read More…]

The sunlight dazzles in the breeze sparkling its way through the window The rays of the sun touch my brow and embrace the body in full splendor The roses you loved, the magnolia you planted, the jasmine you potted The roses have withered, magnolia stands tall, the jasmine blooms in all its charm The breeze is slow, birds are silent,[Read More…]

Eight farmers have taken their own lives. The death certificate is crystal clear. It’s suicide not murder. The potatoes they have to sell in zero profit are in shopping trolley with a tip – top price tag. The wife of paanwala Ramu stands by roadside every night She tucks in some ragged clothes inside her bra to makes her breasts[Read More…]

Stretching far beyond the distant horizons is a mountain where trod the gods on their way to heaven, where mankind prayed for redemption, for a broader vision, for union   with universal, infinite energies. The peaks tower snow white — stretch out an awning. Long ago, these were not there. The ranges birthed as two ancient land masses embraced.  [Read More…]

A sword pierced my soul, the day I heard the calls For genocide against our Muslim nationals – What makes it still more chilling and sinister Is the loud silence of all those who matter. We who speak can say that silence speaks louder, It echoes in ears it reaches and further; It beats up a drum roll of tacit[Read More…]

Part One: inspired & freely adapted from a poem by the French lyric poet Paul Eluard On every door at every gate in every doorway on all the windows, mirrors of all the world   I write your name.   On every road with every step in the wide meander and the sand on the straight and narrow and around[Read More…]

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…]

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…]

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…]

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…]

Can you see it, right here, inside swaying the tusks dripping blood? Do you see it, drunk in adulation the peak of its head held high still climbing with every cheer from the boisterous crowd?   Are you seeing it- the large microphonic ears flapping on himself like a decorated fan?   Those distrusting eyes penetrating through you in quiet[Read More…]

Well now you know how time flies, Like a bird caught in a whirlwind, Like a serpent shedding skins, Like a roadside bench being abandoned again and again. And it has been said before And maybe even before that, That these are worlds of our own making, A translucent lucid facade of falsifications Of hopes and of dreams and of[Read More…]

                                                                         Every little girl has a dream A dream to study, a dream to play, A dream to dance, a dream to fly, A dream[Read More…]

Let us go there, you and I, hoping chocolates fall from the sky.   Let us go into a hilly terrain, where flows the ancient Amu Darya, where Marco Polo watched sheep graze on the grass of Pamirs. Do they still browse or is it tamam shud with a rat-a-tat-tat?   Has the river turned red? Incarnadined, gaze ghosts unwounded[Read More…]

A monkey came to our home. It saw plenty of space to roam! Elated, it went from room to room Looking nook and corner It saw my computer … The shining screen caught it’s eyes It sat on the table, looked here and there twice! Scanned the keyboard Began to type word after word. Finding the sounds odd, It went[Read More…]

I got a little tired of believing that the man who died during demonetisation while standing in a queue of a heart attack was any less important or not gold-medal deserving than the man who can throw a javelin further than others with the help of an Australian coach and a German or two for good measure I got a[Read More…]

Wandering here and there Among adivasis everywhere Singing like active Nightingale Inspiring local people She explored people’s lives Offered succor without any avarice She was a darling To the folks who were listening And applauding One day, uniformed dragons came Choked her throat without shame Mutilated her body To frighten everybody Then mercilessly draped Her with some dress readymade And[Read More…]

Trans: Ra Sh He opted for humanity, Got abandoned by humans.   With a third eye that unbinds borders he danced to the wingbeats of a migratory bird within  the range of a tele lens.   He sported a beard like an anonymous guru. He had no disciples. He did not frame butterflies or rivers or trees. All of them[Read More…]

Look. I am before you. Now I am here: I am making a statement proclaiming a truth nothing less than an outcry.   Listen. I am speaking truth crying out. Listen: Earth is dying one-only Earth. Earth is dying ravaged, abused. Not dying from old age not expiring by the will of God but perishing through serial extinctions from human[Read More…]

The chair you left with me is an asylum of fear. Whenever it swings, the pungent aroma of your Cuban cigars pervades the breeze and my room fills with spiraling rings of smoke. When it swings, I can compile a thousand poems on solitude and hear your slogans rippling in the air. The vacant chair you left with me is[Read More…]

Cancer Is not just a zodiac sign Like a crab its effects are not benign…. It is malign Life threatening Physical and mental taxing Deadly disease Will not leave body with ease…. It seeps into the system Like corruption in society And all the healthy cells cease To exist like virtues Demolished by vice …. Colostomy bag Hangs like a[Read More…]

I   A Kingly creature; now creatureless King An Empire out of breath while breathless doing Air, water, land all three commanded to remain in place and serve They wilt under the lash of gentle commerce whilst jolly plenty stumbles along in filthy blindness All living things now cringe at the gross summons of Man Yet meanwhile Gaia gathers up[Read More…]

The tree reaches…the way a hand Reaches–towards the sky, sunlight, rain, the moon; Towards all things known…and yet to be. Upward, Outward…towards our better selves…and others’ Better selves; towards new and old “realities”– What may be, and what has been. We can’t grasp All there is to grasp…but, open-hearted, We can reach all that is attainable. Wales’ tallest tree had[Read More…]

A storm gathers fast on the distant horizon, dim but visible. Murky skies and bloated gray clouds mesh into terrific beauty—and rumble of thunder that cleaves the day-gloom with a dazzling light and deafens. The earth shudders uneasily. Trees sway violently, birds are in flight, circling. The powerful wind flattens the solid things on its way, in fury. The burning[Read More…]

This summer is unlike any other. It burns hole in the Mind and heart—and scalds the tiny veins of skin. There is death in the air and smoke hangs heavy. The dead are piled up in sheets, waiting—while the undead walk the deserted streets, benumbed; streets under curfew, joy gone out of lives. Wailings of the sirens of the ambulance[Read More…]

The pain of man wrings stories of pain from my pen I cannot write of happiness as the world weeps, weeps   on pyres and graves with smoke spiralling up the scape; as bodies in desecration lie in bags and cardboard boxes;   as democracy asserts amidst the chaos of dead bodies and unsensitised souls that have lost their conscience[Read More…]

It is not enough that you have eyes and ears You must see and listen It is not enough that you see and listen You must think also It is not enough that you think You must act also It is not enough that you act You must sustain your actions also It is not enough that you sustain your[Read More…]

Standing at 597 feet And being declared the tallest statue I felt I could feel pride and watch the beautiful things around However, find it to be only a misfortune   As I watch miles and miles away from me I can only see the suffering and pain around The pain created by those Who have only tried to build[Read More…]

If you do not have A friend from another religion Oh, how wretched ! If you do not have A person from another political thought In your friend list Oh, how wretched !   If you are not willing For a dialogue with anyone But you and with yourself If you call someone with a different opinion As Sanghi, Kongi,[Read More…]

Defaced by a virus, the Earth stands all alone. Humanity — will it survive the crackling of the coronal core? Write, write   of the masked men. Faces forgotten. Lipsticks abandoned. How long will it last? Few frightened haggard monied move towards an exodus   to Mars. Waterlogged, virus-worn stands the home, the hearth. Frightening in desolation, abandoned. But what[Read More…]

  i have sought to love you unworthy that i am   i have sat in the tall grass looking out over water watching a setting sun   and i have sought to love you unworthy that i am   i have walked poetic the meadow a red tailed hawk circled above   i have traveled the narrow quiet path[Read More…]

A bird came down to rest on a rocky perch. Turned his head this way — that way. It looks familiar, he thought. the cerulean skies the trees with foliage on tall, slim trunks the large red flowers in bloom. The river gushed white roaring its way down from its birthplace. Through rocky mountains and green hills it cascaded unstoppably.[Read More…]

India and the world has seen a lot in the recent past, and these poems from the past mirror the importance of resistance when the times are tough. The purpose behind translating these three different poets was a common underlying humanitarian theme of their work which believed in democratizing the political space. I personally feel that these three poems can[Read More…]

If we must choose between civilization and barbarity we must choose civilization. But only if the injustices and atrocities of civilization do not exceed those of barbarism.   If we must choose identity between eco and ego we must choose eco and celebrate the global planting of trees and enacting an end to forced mass extinctions.   If we must[Read More…]

“…the destruction of what you people call evil, is less just and desirable than the conversion of this evil into what you call good…”  — The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov We play with the colours of dawn, spraying the world with spring, with happiness, with birds that are willing to   sing. Liturgies lace our lives with absolutes.[Read More…]

1. 75… and still alive! Just live to give; just yearn to learn! “To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.” But, can we be kind? Can we still build? Nourish… and flourish…. Take delight in a new insight? Recall old rhymes from childhood’s times? Can we be serious, not deleterious? Dialogue, not monologue? 2. 75 years Leak[Read More…]

The Peculiar Human Gnaw has overtaken all of life Or was it always to be so? In more Halcyon days Every hunger was checked by another Until Consumption reduced nature’s maw into a tiny red sack of paroxysmal fury The First Commandment: Feed Naked Ape Even the Sun must be brought down, ever closer For the warmth of Gaia only[Read More…]

                       “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”                       –Pablo Picasso 1. First, he mastered the masters: From his earliest sketches at his father’s knees, Through Rembrandt, Velasquez and Goya. (El Greco and Goya he loved Almost as much as his father.) They stalked his[Read More…]

A Kingly creature; now creatureless King An Empire out of breath while breathless doing Air, water, land all three commanded to remain in place and serve They wilt under the lash of gentle commerce whilst jolly plenty stumbles along in filthy blindness All living things now cringe at the gross summons of Man Yet meanwhile Gaia gathers up her furious[Read More…]

Left and Right. The witch finder’s army hunts each night. In stealth, the army seeps   prowls, creeps under floorboards. The army, hooded and masked, takes tiny ants to task   when they bite. Each bite costs the ant its Life. The witch finder’s army parades, drills.   You better take sides. If you are not Left or Right, you[Read More…]

  1 My world in your eyes Just a stirring inside me Finally we meet 2 Gentle spring breeze floats Open hand invites rest here Love blooms like a rose 3 Beginning to know There is something elusive Where are you hiding 4 Loving you is sweet Conning me is such great fun Laughing all the way Harriet Huddle grew[Read More…]

Because they couldn’t kill me before I was born they try to throw me off every cliff, into flames and push me into deranged arms Blame me for straying too near the edge Praise me to high heavens when I am defeated/broken/ dead Decorate my rotting corpse with candlelight vigils Call me their favourite warrior names for losing the fight[Read More…]

The tree, shimmering in a puddle, ripples as a bird pauses for a drink. The sun peeps from behind the grey lined with silver.   The river mirrors the sky replete with clouds and sunshine. Water drifts over a lifetime spanning your story and mine —   narratives of our Times, of an eon that sweeps the Earth, mankind’s own[Read More…]

You wave. The street splits into two The wrong turn is you An obsessed nostril sniffs out intentions Kisses are always political I want to stop and breathe out the years without you. The wind fleeing on a bird wing leaves me a feather The left is a body with an unwashed feel to it; It reeks of desire, of[Read More…]

When I met the Devil last night I told him that `God is within you’ `I have no God,’ he said `I am the Devil’, said the words From his wisdom teeth `That’s ok, bro’, I said `We have something in common But you have God within you’. `What the F*#@*%&<?’. Jumped the angry Devil in front He tried to[Read More…]

If I tell you that love is a reality, You may call me a romantic. If I tell you that love is an abstraction You may call me a confused idiot If I tell you that love is God You may call me immoral If I tell you that love is revolution You may call me an anti-communist If I[Read More…]

Why is it so difficult? To be bold and fearless In a world which is cruel and vicious To speak against injustice To seek fairness, equality and peace To be aware of the governments games and tricks To state the facts as it is. To be an accomplice of the ‘anti-nationals’ To question the government and be rational To never[Read More…]

If they are terrorists Then why do they feed us? If they are disruptors Then why do they make the world work? You might hit and insult You might tarnish and blur You might push them against a wall But before doing so Perhaps think of this- That you consume their toils That your dreams, they power That verdant life[Read More…]

First, they came for our masks! Then they came for our muzzles! But… we’d been masked for so long We all felt naked without them! We’d been muzzled for so long, We couldn’t find our voices! Naked and voiceless, we wandered in darkness. “Didn’t there used to be a sun?” someone wondered, Pointing…. “Didn’t there used to be a moon?”[Read More…]

not that i sleep and walk or walk and sleep or read and sleep or sleep and read not that my head nods when a tractor collides headlong with a police van parked beyond barbed wire not that i stand outside a tent and peep on a langar where slogans and rotis roast on a large griddle treat me as[Read More…]

Freedom —   All the while, they talk of freedom. What has freedom rendered them?   Has it given them the ability to soar? To fly? Has it given voice to their inner souls?   Has it helped them rise? Has it got rid of diseases? Has it got rid of prisons that bar the mind — of human constructs[Read More…]

In this journey through the dark tunnel Many beautiful people travelled with me Some took different lanes and disappeared Some landed up again in the same tunnel This love for a walk in darkness Kept us moving in a constant high All I know is that there is a light behind And a light in a distant front I know[Read More…]

Crossing the street A brush with death A thousand times Alive A door held A waiting elevator Stop Signs Back then front A stopped heart With sirens Beating again No papers exchanged Breath Deadly breath Turn away Thank you, Please, Sorry A set table Four chairs Three pieces The knife’s busy Romi Mahajan is an Author, Marketer, Investor, and Activist[Read More…]

India; It’s true.   I draw you with my toeless feet. My fingers fell out as I passed your skin. Drops of blood became your body. Parliament ; Taj Mahal; Charminar; Rashtrapati Bhavan Everything in your pride is my bloodstain. I cannot explain it without fingers. But a poem can do.     Dispassionately I closed my eyes. The divided[Read More…]

“A constant sacrament of praise….”             –Wallace Stevens Give praise whenever you can! Praise: Sunrise on snow-capped mountains; Sunsets on marigold fields; Every act of kindness and solicitude; Children smiling in beneficence. Praise: The hard-earned wisdom of the old; Every great artist who ever lived; The almost-great who failed to fulfill their dreams The color green; amber; bees making honey;[Read More…]

Farmers on tractors and battalions behind barbed wire shoot “nayi saal mubarak ho” at the stroke of midnight while nursing their injuries and preparing for the first battle of 2021.   Langars are aflame with the heat of the protests as women cook with men for the foot soldiers of rebellion. Makki ki roti and sarson ka saag heal tired[Read More…]

A journey is forgotten once it is made, these days the journey goes on, continuously on like seasonless serials on internet tv journeys his and his theirs, same these men who come to us in photographs as moments of their worlds, captured in reel, more than one cared to know, now it sends a chill down our spines, now real[Read More…]

Behind a screen of pastel petals That seem to make A dreamy, windchimes’ sound, She finds herself emerging in a world Where clashing cymbals echo all around, And yet… in peace, she stands her ground. Within this world of dissolutions, She holds vast secrets in her well-like eyes; Beyond the realm of disappearance, She abides; And, more than that, hides[Read More…]

I was simply down the street. The broken stones of the road whisper unspoken messages, of how many human feet have crossed the road. Of how many broken wings would have fallen off this road; Babies crying for milk people starving at the signal stories of so many people stretched before my eyes. I’m the beggar who owns the flute[Read More…]

Sweet apocalypse in the blood! Stephen-King nightmare in the brain! Mortar rounds at synapses! Invader of our personal stash! SweetSweet as Delilah’s lips!   Cooing with the voice of Mom— Bubela, Bambino, come home, come home To peaches and cream and castles of fructose, To sugared hot cocoa and honeycombed words In hives of endearments buzzing on eardrums; To plaudits[Read More…]

Oh God! End this, the young man begged, As he lay on earth covered in mud, Streaks of hot blood pouring down his form And limbs that lay battered and numb.   He knew he had done nothing wrong, He hadn’t snubbed or brought disdain. Yet they called him a “filthy sinner” As they struck his head with intense wrath.[Read More…]

Through the panic, through the fear. I felt you there, you were near. Every message, every call. Every time I hit a wall. Every time the road would bend, Every time it was the end. I heard your voice through the noise. I heard you say that I would rise. Some drove by, left me to die. Some jumped in[Read More…]

Don’t tell me You’re ‘like’ A mother to me A sister to me A daughter to me  Or compare me To a deity Like Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi   My heart beats Because of me Because I am my own Identity   Shailaja Rao, Core Member, Dhanak of Humanity (NGO) SIGN UP FOR COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER  

The untouchable body is touched until it can be touched no more, touched so often and in so many ways, just to purge you of fears She is powerful for she is woman, you make of her an anthem, her breasts are in mourning, her tortured cries haunt your ripped manhood’s Her sisters are bodies draped over mango trees, gargoyles[Read More…]

meditation preparing for unemployment what I would say to anyone who asks me what I say to myself thoughts on Louise Glueck’s short speech on being congratulated for receiving the Nobel Prize for her poetry she said the driver is waiting, he has to earn his living, let me go — preparing for unemployment prepares us for unemployment provided we[Read More…]

The mass migrants to Mars stood poised to take their first step. The Red Planet crimsoned further by the blood of scientists who realised the vision of a musky monied man odoured with fame, made into godhead. Out of deep freeze, led by the god who saved them, stood more monied men.   They had left a planet in turmoil.[Read More…]

Your dreams won’t die They can’t kill them They killed you They brutalized you They lied But your dreams won’t die   A people Who pride themselves On their spirituality… What spirits indeed Invade their Addled brains?   What opiate Suggests such acts? What sickness Can endure? Their bodies, their limbs Are what’s really aflame   Your dreams won’t die[Read More…]

Why we Indians are so different, Why we still follow tradition, In looking for a spouse Why is horoscope-matching so important, It is our culture, you say But it is the caste, silly   Why is love-marriage still taboo Why is honour-killing still practiced When all over the world no marriage gets ‘arranged’ It is our tradition, you say But[Read More…]

Though corona is born Though earth revived. Though nature gained it power Though families are together. Though schools are closed Though markets are shut. Though we are at home Though we are free. But I am still the same The same girl, Covering my head with a burqa or a dupatta Only able to see my curious eyes. When will I get freedom?[Read More…]

When the demolishers go scot-free And a demolition is celebrated When the inflictors are adored And the victims are hated Where violence is celebrated In the name of the majority And resistance is suppressed In the name of minority Where marginal lives are crushed And upper lives uplifted Where highs only rise further high Where lows only dip further low[Read More…]

It is a miracle, isn’t it? In a cluttered space with books, with the marijuana of remembrances, with misplaced rage, the exiled poet keeps birthing poems. Worn-torn memories reopen their scarred flesh. They bleed raw with coagulated chunks of rape, maiming, bombing in a motherland fresh with familiar faces, and recycled anguish. The heart races back in time, all those[Read More…]

I watch with my lips sealed Watch each girl burn burn the stains of Predators’ Hands till their life is done   I watch with my ears closed Watch rancid hands leap and lustfully Immolate last night’s Fun Clear the mess. The job is done.   Unemployed, porn-ridden mobiles watch, watch with closed eyes the horror, horror of a life[Read More…]

1. Crackling Aging is like a multitude of doors, closing in back alleys—sunless… (or lit by a lamppost in a film noir script). You think you see a beautiful face—gas-lit, in a secret chamber— hair with a halo around it. You think you know the name of that face…. But… you have forgotten all names. And the face smiles back[Read More…]

Ask me How I’m doing What I’m thinking about But Ask me What the future holds Where I’ll be But Ask me About the pain About the sadness But Ask me Why I’m hurting Why I can’t move But Ask me About my parents About my kids But It isn’t like The Weather The Game The Show So You Don’t[Read More…]

You change the meaning of violence To mean that your violence is non-violent And those who question your violence Are the perpetrators of the actual violence If you define your violence as non-violent And those who question your violence as violence Your non-violence has a violent nature And questioning of your violence has a non-violent nature The foundation you want[Read More…]

  Forgotten souls that weep for an Unfinished dream, for a life Half-lived that ended in an agony of twin blasted Implosions. Forgetting the past — Al Qaeda Osama the terror the horror of tumbling towers the cries that pierced the silences of death   and yet triumphing Arabian perfumes silver bricks Clear the stench of corpses, Wars for Holy[Read More…]

Opening before us A crack in the Earth So deep So deep Headphones on Chatting on the phone We walk Into the muck Insouciance Ambien-induced haze Our collective lives Under this mask The crack widens And deepens We walk Without a pause Will you save me Before I fall? Romi Mahajan is an Author, Marketer, Investor, and Activist SIGN UP[Read More…]

By Giuseppa Cochiara and Gary Steven Corseri Food for the poor, Water for plants Rain for arid land.   Everyone adds A pinch of hope To the dish of Life.   It’s a rose-tinged feeling— Nourishing, supporting.   Everyone hopes For a better day— A turnaround To something new.   Love, success, pride…. Can we imagine them Without hope?  [Read More…]

The circle of eternal flow Through scented breeze and reminiscing nights Through a thousand nascent dawns and seagulls’ ocean-defeating flights The spirit’s eternal race to new shells of myriad experience The endless dance of blending love, lust and and tears pay obeisance To the stillness in endless motion The supreme truth of life divine. The slice of blue spheres In[Read More…]

  Why does Hate extend her reign? Why do divides raise ugly sides? When will mankind unite?   Casteist fervour, abhorrence and race   Manmade borders that breaches create, tolerance break, love annihilate, rancours breed   Marginalised, classified — we still remain broken, fragmented with spite   When can love colour all our kind?   There is no North, no[Read More…]

Kente cloth adorns his body, Complete with a youthful grin. His soul is at its peak of joy, with Pride in his ebony skin. The sudden boom of an approaching gun Startles him in his wake. Whisked away by pale ghostly spirits He must obey, for his life is at stake. He is taken at gunpoint to a colossal ship[Read More…]

A masquerade of ugly traits Chasing citizens of ordinary values, A parade of dirty linens Messing up the environment, Heaps of confusion Troubling the land. Politics, the pillar of karma Canonizing, canalizing, cabalistic too Beams of fetish columns Streams of radiation Rays of fraudulent hopes. Politics, dirty, stinking, inhumane Bearing stamps of hardship Bits and bits of flesh Pounding bones[Read More…]

Masked at the face of evil Turning blind eye to reality, Clapping for killers And feeding murderers, Everyone is politically correct. Political leaders appoint touts and thugs Religious leaders ordain Judas, Cultural leaders erase history Social leaders act nude and promiscuous, Traditional leaders title vagabonds Educational leaders burn certificates, Because they want to be politically correct. Judas kissed Jesus Jesus[Read More…]

once i used to be complete one whole there were no parts of me but now i am mincemeat you have done this to me since millennia you are ripping me apart pulling me to shreds scratching my body with lines and cutting me into bits bits you proudly call your own but, strangely each time after you cut out[Read More…]

  We saw you coming, with dreamy eyes A resurrected year, born from the ashes Of sufferings of the past years, rechristened in The divinity of a newborn body, But then, 2020, you ushered in our lives With the fury and madness of demolition. With the rapacious monster of a virus, a deadly battle consuming our fragile flesh.   Held[Read More…]

Am I white, black, purple or pink?   Names given by mankind to diverse reflections of light   Names given to create borders between colours   Colours earlier that rainbow spelt Now lead only to bloodshed, violence, gore, hatred.   Where is the love that Lalon sang?   Where is the note that played on the flute harmonising black with[Read More…]

(Author’s Note: Here’s a poem about US—and much of the world’s–politics in this “modern age,” in which the emphasis of our “hidden persuaders” (and, often, blatant manipulators) is not so much on what we think as on how we think—i.e., shallow thinking.  Those who dare to chart their own course, probe deeply, think for themselves,draw their own conclusions, are too[Read More…]

This plague, an obscure and largely-forgotten Camus spoke to me about another plague, in a Mumbai apartment. I was taken aback. Two plagues and venues varied collide in a single instant and frame, but retain their individual flavours and contours and a common dread and stench felt universally by the master race, made vulnerable, again, by a tiny virus, of[Read More…]

This poem was originally written on request and publicly recited by then Seattle Mayor, Norm Rice (a Black American) for the reopening of Key Arena and the Founders’ Fountain at the Seattle Center on 28 October 1995.  At that time, what the poem expresses was an aspiration shared by the Mayor and me.  Norm Rice did not make a speech[Read More…]

[Inspired by renowned artist of Bengal Benimadhab’s artwork of Kali (woodcut litho print) which I received as a gift during the book launch of our anthology ‘Muffled Moans Unleashed’, done in collaboration with Green Tara Social Initiative, Kolkata, India.] The Kali in my being, a calcified truth of light overpowered by savage darkness. The Kali in my soul, a perpetual[Read More…]

Each war Each boundary dispute Multiplies human culture By zero It proclaims the helplessness Of literature and spiritual thoughts It answers the question why Buddhists like Lao Tzu Have forsaken the human world And withdrawn into icy silence There is no right or wrong side in War   There is no war like one for justice Since war is the[Read More…]

  On the edge of annihilation, a tiny virus rimmed by an aging sun draws on the sap of bread earned by man   The conquistador of Nature, the hunter, the seeker — all have stopped The seller sadly winds his words in a lonely home   Television sets blare old shows Man depressed into unrest slowly crawls towards the rim[Read More…]

At my teens from Sunday church I wandered in old small town looking birds listening old band near traditional coffin workshop where many variety coffins stacked When grown up as a student Study of funerals were my interest as it was rituals and traditions show the drama of true life on earth our real live theater Witnessed looked heard read[Read More…]

  ( Jaater Naame Bajjati Shob ) Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)   Translation © Monish R Chatterjee 2020 The caste hooligans have long been at play Caste fraudsters gambling with human life – So touching a fellow human makes you an outcaste Is your caste, then, fragile as candy in a child’s hand? Caste hooligans playing roulette.   Hookah water[Read More…]

(The title alludes to the photo by W. Eugene and Aileen Smith, in which a mother bathes her crippled, twelve-year-old daughter….  A hundred people died and nearly a thousand were crippled as a result of mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan.)   “Daughter, my daughter, I will hold you with my strong arms and let the warmth of the water enter[Read More…]

Sometimes,   One needs to get away from the torrid darkness of words. A darkness that annihilates. Swirling, twirling a blackness laced with blood, anger, hate   Marginalised   —   Sometimes from a brutal knee Sometimes a mob or a bloody bullet kiss —   Violent Death   Drops in the ocean connect all lands called continents   Mourning Mothers’[Read More…]

What is it that you are staring at me for? With those eyes of yours that are like blank gaping holes Any sign of life, I have sucked out from those eyes long ago By naming you, shaming you, calling you a parasite, till my voice turned hoarse   I was rejoicing in the cover of protectiveness that your ‘parasitic’[Read More…]

One They named him Corona, it is not uncommon for babies to be named after special events, or characters in history. But that is not the point. Two One assumes giving birth is essential to the continuity of life, but birthing On footpaths? At roadsides? Under flyovers? How else does one define apocalypse? Three These women, many, too many in indignity.[Read More…]

1. “Girasole,” Italians say, accent on soul, “g” as in gyro, the last syllable, lay–a medieval song. In my uncle’s garden there were many (heads taller than I, taller even than the tomato plants he trained to staves heading towards trellises of overhead vines from which he squeezed–sweet!– grapes’ wine-dark blood). But these were different— golden, star-petaled…serene; yet…eerie how they[Read More…]

Feet of God is revered flowers offered at feet. Elders’ feet touched for paying respect. Saintly person’s feet are cleansed. Entered home with feet washed. Gurus’ feet smeared with herbal oils. Apologies offered at master’s feet. Blessings seeked at parents feet. Stand on your own feet often it is said so. On feet, clans moved nations to nations. Pilgrims gone[Read More…]

  1. If I come back to earth as a movie star, I want to be that guy nobody knows. You know who I mean, don’t you? As a young man, he gets slapped around by Bogie in The Maltese Falcon. He’s Sidney Longstreet’s punk and foil. He’s got a pug nose and he makes you want to rub…him… out![Read More…]

Was Man made for Money? Was Money made for Man? On which side lies the land What is the truth? Did Man for Money walk straight — From Ape to Homo Habilis 2.8 million years ago? Where was the Money, the Economy? And then came Homo Sapiens — smart, intellectual, established Money, Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, all the isms that divide[Read More…]

Migrant workers walking home , walking … For many a kilometer No water No food No shelter No time to brood On past or future …. Economy staggering Industrial output declining Manufacture of products stopped Tools are lying untouched … Where are the workers? The ‘ real’ economic torch bearers ? Pregnant woman delivers on road  (1) And walks with[Read More…]

A thread in our lives That never unravels Pinching at the seam Of our civilization As an unhealed cut Bleeds, even in dribbles Pains us until We learn to ignore We can watch And not see We can see But not register Each one matters Loved ones shattered Potential lost Over before the bell A flame Might flicker A flame[Read More…]

I do not find it profitable to talk to the dead! They are so single-minded! They repeat old stories over and over Until one feels like screaming: “PLEASE MOVE ON!” The dead are ventriloquists. As soon as you think they’re silent, A living soul takes up their mantle, Suddenly nudging you: “Did you hear the one about…?” (And…you’ve heard it[Read More…]

Salim Bhai please Get out of the house It is burning Please get out It is but one room I cannot leave It is my house After all Salim Bhai please Get out of the house It is burning Please get out It is but two rooms I cannot leave It is my neighborhood After all Salim Bhai please Get[Read More…]

The mute boy as slender as a willow sapling looks at the world with eyes big and bright by light intake and color.   He does not look at the world as others look.  He looks in his own way   His world is a world of maenad laughter.  His world is a world of confusion; a world he can[Read More…]

Between my stomach and your hands You choose to select your hands And leave my stomach aside By prioritising your scarcity over my scarcity When my stomach cries for food You choose to convert my food into your sanitiser And convince me that this is what I need it at this point of time And not something which I really[Read More…]

Years ago You imposed lockdown On our actions Aspirations Choices Voices…. You imposed lockdown On our thoughts Our minds Our movements Our expressions …. We were ‘socially’ distanced Discriminated Oppressed Repressed…. Now you are promoting ‘social’ distancing Instead of explaining ‘physical’ distancing Paving way to convince people of tradition Glorifying caste system and its logical coronation …. Your lockdown of[Read More…]

May we be receptive to the wisdom of nature and the knowledge that if her laws are obeyed, our lands and people will flourish May we save the planet from present practices of destruction and allow the raw wounds of the earth to heal May we bring back the natural harmony of nature and restore to our souls the richness[Read More…]

I float down the river. It can be any river imagined. Yet it is here despite a vision Devised to make it real. It stretches back in time To the Big Bang And into a nearly imaginable future Until the Earth is swallowed By a dying expanding sun That swallows our planet fully as it is engulfed. Such ponderous thoughts[Read More…]

God bless the cherry-pickers! They swarm upon the ground— picking, picking, picking what’s unerringly found. They love low-hanging branches where picking’s easily done. They abhor a wealth of chances. “Tough nuts” they always shun! They tell you what you’ve heard a hundred thousand times. They claim the final word is easy—and it rhymes! They know the way to Timbuktu. They[Read More…]

The transparent people cannot be seen Is that true? The transparent people have no emotions Is that true? In a field, on a bus Walking down the road Singing, in pain The sun is no friend Nor is the rain The transparent people float Smiling in pictures No flowers at home The transparent people From towns on a map Forever[Read More…]

Stay Safe. Stay Home.   The birds flew home. They had nests.   Stay Safe. Stay Home.   But, men? Did all men have a place to stay? A place they could rest? A place that housed their beds?   “1.6 billion worldwide lack adequate housing”.   Stay Safe. Stay Home.   A place that shelters them from Death by[Read More…]

I must go where my conscience takes me not where I am supposed to go. I must do what my conscience dictates, in fact demands. I cannot succumb. I have made mistakes and I’ll repent forever, not in some magical way but in a very practical way. I will learn to want less and thus to have more freedom for[Read More…]

Allow us to go home At a time when we are stuck in your cities Neither continuing here for earning livelihood by staying Nor getting a privilege to practice your set norms With economic activities coming to a halt And stoppage of all the work and no means to earn We are least motivated to stay back And want to[Read More…]

Dear Dad, I am glad you did not live to see these.   You died.   Died before you saw them collapse by the roadside.   Gandhi called them his friend. And so did you.   Why did God not have mercy on them?   Why is it they have no food? No water, no shoes? Why is it they[Read More…]

We the abandoned people of this world Out there walking miles to our villages With none in your cities to protect us During these times of lockdown   We built your houses We constructed your offices We built your shopping malls We produced in your factories   We built your cities from the scratch We served your needs in your[Read More…]

The small bird who has just learnt to fly Flapping her wings with joy and confidence Moving across the wind in the sky With the earth and her people under her feet The little bird who flies in the sky Does not feel that she owns the sky.   The young fish who has just come out of the egg[Read More…]

From the womb of the Earth, She rose —   Fiery, like the volcanic core, unfolding each limb. soaring, phoenix like, from the ash left behind   out of the gore the rotting Core of the Death Sun.   Cremation smoke.   From the womb of the Earth She rose —   Death crept. Silenced factory smoke.   She strode[Read More…]

The world was calm now. And silent. Only the birds chirped tweeted sang cawed. Only the animals barked mewed mooed growled. Only the river gurgled. Only the sky thundered. Only the fires crackled.   Two covid-19 teenage viuses walked around the city assessing the damage. On Route vers l’ouest, they found mansions with cars parked in front and little gardens.[Read More…]

For this country of our fathers and forefathers who laid down their lives to unshackle it and rebuilt it with their sweat and blood India of their hopes and dreams the land we kiss, whose dust adorns our foreheads We fight for the Constitution collective conscience of wise men and women who wanted to ensure that each one of us[Read More…]

a muslim with his eyes blinded was recognized by the direction his face lay turned towards the qibla1 bloodstains whispering war on his cheeks like line breaks of a romantic ballad poem his last prayer very carefully spoken as he was heaving, breathing being dragged from the arms of his kohl-eyed lover, before they made her a corpse, her unarmed[Read More…]

Any narrative of Delhi Riots ’20 just communal is dangerous for all but some are keen to say so ever The jackals after sheep herd people of riot hit zones committed helping each other to survive at their best and many did great they were all good samaritans Then why are some so keen to call it fight of communities[Read More…]

  Marginalised? Who said we are marginalised? We are humans walking side by side.   Women, Men and Children Dalits, Tribals and the Abused —   Who said we are different?   Who said that Woman is born of Man’s rib? Who said caste is by God writ?   Who said women cannot enter temples or mosques? Who said Menstruation[Read More…]

Beneath a pile of charred rubble sodden with splattered blood hanging on precariously to the half rotten dead in the drain killed in the name of God now a bait of murderous mob for the unsuspecting who come looking for their own I am Delhi ravaged by my kith, shamed by my kin I bewail my destiny marked with massacre[Read More…]

It is five o clock in mid spring.. And the hymns of Azaan comes into my ears, Where do the God’s Abode,I don’t know, Neither it is my wish to know about .. I walk by my own, towards the clock tower , Drizzles wet me, still I wish to get a cool shower.. It seemed I had been locked[Read More…]

I have seen the world recede behind the trees; the world that was for you and me — a vibrant blue world, dotted with green, swirls of ocean and breeze painted by Van Gogh — A Starry Night, and then came a tsunami that wiped it all from site.   A fakir overnight, as Lalan, I sing afloat in space[Read More…]

He’s not my leader the one who is too busy for the people who are dying on the streets, he’s just a bad fox who eats on the dead and lurks in dark to escape to his friends who are murderers! You, yes you! I am fed up of you how you lie, how you kill and then groan in[Read More…]

Shaheen Bagh is untouched by the winter chill there is a fire burning within! Shaheen Bagh replies speeding bullets with flowers ‘why don’t we love each other?’ Shaheen Bagh is singing ‘ we will see… We will see that promised day’ Shaheen Bagh Is reading out a piece of paper, their inheritance- ‘Justice Freedom! Equality!’ Shaheen Bagh is singing a[Read More…]

Far away,secluded in an utter isolation, She used to count the yellow lights, being numbed, Sometimes, few of her owns came to visit her, but they never lookedback whie leaving, Again,an utter silence left behind,devoured her existence in quite dark…! Broken soul,weird thoughts,no way to be released,she wanted still to live a life, Every morning,with some needles and nerves,she painfully[Read More…]

I watch my brothers crying, begging to the nation for justice, The same pain,some sane voices to rebel against their bloody wounds, It’s the Freedom,who is chained in rules..!! Free birds got locked in a vicious cage, They’re afraid ,they tremble in the souns of bullet, A silencer is put towards their home, It’s the Freedom,which is chained in rules..!![Read More…]

You call me by your own names Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tukde Tukde gang or Terrorists You push us to the walls Or kick us with all the trolls You shoot us Or abuse us   We declare, We are just a simple Shaheen bagh We are no big people But just pure simple folks of this country Who never understand your[Read More…]

Someday,sometimes,if I was remembered by you, Do come alone,with bare limbs, as I dwell in the utmost bliss.. Not the woman I’m ,whom you used to know pretty before.. She was an innocent pie,did keep faith on the lie,some col blooded lie! Here struggles a warrior,you’ll find her war marks on her body, Ruthless,desperate,leaving all her priorities to uphold her[Read More…]

Like a torn string,,like a wingless seagull, I’m done..and its all over!! All my slogans,all my comrades, I bid you farewell,as my time is up.. I’ve seen brutal faces with fake adore ,covered in them, Where each eye is upon me, And my lone soul walk along.. Over the thorns, leaving my bloody steps behind.. I bid you fsrewell, my[Read More…]

The script is being written For those belonging to the `other’ faith For women, Dalits, and the margins and For the under-nourished colours Trying to cover their bodies and minds From the gazes of penetrating shame The script is being written In bolder and bolder letters.   The script is being written When the gutters swallow the Constitution For the[Read More…]

Vaults will be broken to take out all our belongings you took away from us like nothing to make one happy palace with a big bed of our dreams, on our hope you light a bonfire! Your home shall burn for the sins you committed by taking our belief to be in power, and then nailing one fabulous manifesto filled[Read More…]

I carry some wounds and hurt with my self indeed! Not a mere woman I’m,you must know me, Rather a warrior mother,who fought a unique battle…without any weapons in her hands, Nor I am like Goddess Durga,who decorated herself with so many arms! The battle I faced and fought lone indeed, For they didn’t recognise me to my child, Another[Read More…]

I’ve been locked for thousand days, threatened by your guns,and you think you banished me in front of my children.. I born with an oath,not to be defeated ,you don’t know, In a dark corner of tge green hills,I write your Last Supper.. In that corner,I raise a fire,that reached all through my children, They keep the fire in their[Read More…]

  If there is peace- where does it live? how does it look? when to look for it?   Is it in the lathis of police or the iron rods of the bajrang goons?   Is it in being mob lynched for carrying a surname in a plastic bag?   Is it in the dead bodies of ganeshguri  blast whose[Read More…]

Look, pal, You are the resurrection day of a nation and I am the remembrance day of the Father of the same nation. In a way we are closely related too being neighbours divided by just four days. Yet, I am sad to say that there is truly nothing common in between us.   I am a minute’s silent prayer.[Read More…]

I have dents and bumps On my shanks from soccer. My shins are covered With them and I marvel At their feel that took place When I was a teen And there were no shin guards. My son-in-law is More. He was a professional soccer player, A doctoral physicist and a MD. He is so much younger than me So[Read More…]

Luminous messages silently comes every dark nights, Every night bleeds there,I hear the noises of marching boots… Down the narrow lanes and paths, My mother is crying in chains… Not for a single moment Bhagat’s mother winked her eyes.. She remained calm as she would be a brave martyr’s mother… My mother is weeping, she is chained by them.. They[Read More…]

How many days people keep silence how many days keep them in prisons How many batons and bullets in store to keep a nation scared now and forever Listen to the cries it is not for mercy but for the rights granted by nation Look at these people who are gathered all under skies meek, weak and tired Still they[Read More…]

The flowers blossom in the gardens of Shaheen Bagh Lifting the spirits and releasing a fresh aroma The air filled with the spirit of the republic Bringing freshness in an environment filled with poison Attracting pilgrims to this temple called Indian republic Where devotees hold the sacred text called the constitution And read out the prayer from the preamble Perform[Read More…]

Hail you ruler! In my country,in my land, Alms were distributed to us as beggars received, Food,clothes,livelihood and the most desired freedom, You rewarded us with very little on which we may just survive, Here mosques full of dust and nobody enters in namaz, our land was a tulip bed, you deliberately turned into debris!! The whole planet watching us,[Read More…]

The afternoon sun began waning over the dove-white shrine, Alone stood there the shrine,almost in the solemnity, Chirping sounds of birds coming from distant willows, Where not a single shadow guarded the wintry ray of sunshine, The shrine remarked the sign of the deep Love, And wounded several times by the bullets and guns, Everytime blood spilled masive from the[Read More…]

They choose me to bleed, They hurt me to bury my soul, “Don’t shout, don’t oppose, or you gotta be finished”…they shouted out, They frightened me and locked me behind the rails, “Fight Dude Fight!” My comates inspired me! They stabbed my back, with the edge of their weapons, They bullied me to kill my rage, Even they tortured me[Read More…]

biscuit a pellet hit her small palm that clutched a half eaten biscuit. she broke into a rasping wail “bikoot mama bikoot” the biscuit fell to the ground near her, near her mamma. mamma a pellet hit her left breast that smelt of milk. a fount of blood spurted all over her baby and soaked a biscuit on the ground.[Read More…]

I am your voice but I will not say a word. I am politically numb. I fear that we may be entering an age of authoritarian populism and one day it will munch us all. We seek rainbow but we often get clouds of tear gas and a hail of bullets. My friend, that day is not far away when[Read More…]

There were no lines that drew you from me I had no flag, no anthem, no lines that said you stood outside I had nothing, only the world which housed many worlds Where you and I were one; Till the day they drew barbed wires between you and me And shoved me into a sky like a square grey patch[Read More…]

It is a system not a sudden gathering or attack, it doesn’t have a group it has a body planning to speed up chaos, attack wasn’t just about fifty men in masks it was about the doors they found open so easily! It is a crime yet it is done with no fear, happy are they to masturbate out every[Read More…]

We see And yet we will see —   The war clouds turn the sky aflame The razing ground do much the same   Neanderthals died of unknown cause Homosapiens crossed a borderless world.   Civilisation spread Nuclear Armament   Bloodied wars   Unhouse the ones who read Shroud them Beat them till they bleed   Only one can lead[Read More…]

A beauiful actress with a fan club for her looks Looked at the mirror when she was old and said: `I am not this one and where did I go?’ A tough man with muscles all around him Asked his son by the end of the game `Who took my muscles away and why?’   An intellectual who controlled the[Read More…]

inspired by & freely adapted from a poem by the French poet Paul Eluard   On every door at every gate in every doorway on all the windows, mirrors of all the world   I write your name.   On every road with every step in the wide meander and the sand on the straight and narrow and around each[Read More…]

As a gust of wind sends the curtains flapping wildly, I wonder about our future. The future is signaling us to go back. The future is telling us to stop where we are now. But we pretend not to hear. And we don’t care. We’re not aware of what we’ve lost and are seeking things we don’t need at all.[Read More…]

When you feel your generation is being crushed by the twin excavators of the political imbecility and haphazard bureaucracy. When you realize that the government is insensitive to the peoples wishes and is making mockery of their destiny. When your see the naked dance of corruption dismantling the very base of our society. When you see unemployment dancing everywhere and[Read More…]

 It is not some chicken that rests on those breasts they feed your next generation pluck them out and you’ll see death all around, you do think to pluck those every night in a small corner of your bed you might be a father, brother, husband or just some man who is desperate to drive fast!   The bra your[Read More…]

A poem on Arundhati Roy Fountain pen unfurling from the curls After the blood carpet why history never unfurls Everyone makes a full stop with decoration To declare how it’s “The End of Imagination” Millions think of the magician thinking above Her pen thinks how he bluffs wearing a glove Curating the structured Homo sapiens To validate that they work[Read More…]

Do these women have rights? These women who break rocks These women who carry bricks These women who in Temples please Gods What Gods? Devdasis? Can they Me Too? Farmers’ wives, sweepers, Women who clean dirt From homes and yet Live in dirt themselves. Women who could not go to school Can they Me Too? Women who remain Unlettered, Unfed,[Read More…]

Exile, Or, Home? They asked, Which home? The one you bulldozed, Or the one you occupied, They are furious, And, Outraged, Or, the one that is a rubble, They look They scare, stay there, Hands up, How can I stay without name Without face Or without eyes. Leave then, Go in exile They laugh Or smirk, How can I go[Read More…]

J.N.U a university where voices speak up where streets protest where classes struggle where birds are still free where azaadi isn’t just a word where democracy lives Sutputra Radheye: He is a young Indian poet for whom poetry is a medium of protest against the authority. He channelizes his words to write what he sees, and how he sees.He doesn’t[Read More…]

I had heard of people in abusive relationships— Of torture made to disappear, Of tyrannies of the mind calculated to blind and crippling dependence cultivated, Of phantom foes and spectral fears and hollow promises renewed, Of shrunken lives under constant vigil terrorised into compliance, Of gaslit rebellion and curfewed movement, isolated from the world’s concern; I marvelled at how all[Read More…]

For the new generations You and bride, side-by-side At new son’s cradle side, First son at grandpa’s side, Daughter at grandma’s side, All at full tableside— Fortunate family! Springtime ride, riverside. Summer swim, oceanside. Autumn hike, mountainside. Winter song, fireside. Countryside, cityside, Sweet life of bourgeoisie! But there’s another side— Rat-race-cide, ed-debt-cide, Rush-hour- cide, autocide, Boob-tube-cide, junk-food-cide, Beer-gut-cide, pharma-cide— All[Read More…]

Oh house of Gods! Oh house of Gods! Temples or Mosques Churches or Synagogues Displaced they stand— A black stone Rectangle or phallic Does it matter? In streams refugees pour out Bloodshed, Gore Hatred and More More and More Ring- a- round the roses Pocketful of doses You think when they Burnt, Singed, they would have learnt Flames should be[Read More…]

They tell me it is your country, but prove your love to keep the peace, gift the land to us to please, and obey the majority or cease. They tell me it is your country but as long as I don’t affirm my belief, remain silent when in grief, and mourn my history in silence. They tell me it is[Read More…]

I heard In real or in a dream? Home is white… Or red? Tulip tree is buried…. In ice, Or in debris? Kangri is in shed. Or dead in the cold? My pheran… The one with red dots on chest…. Is like a scarecrow on tilted pole, Or cut into shreds? Who tells me?????? My umbilical cord…… Is missing……………… In[Read More…]

My spine is bent, Sir You can see the bones jutting out; My hands I have stretched, To touch your feet My index finger on your right toe: Can’t you see, Yes? Thank you! (glee) I beg your pardon? Yes, I made sure I burnt all the books before we met And my pen is now the river My brain[Read More…]

Children in unison rise Crying for the ultimate reprise. Bus fares hike Water jets strike Murderers walk free The land is no longer safe Asperger bound The world round Children protest In anger and unrest Where do they stand? Why have they become the voice of The angry clans? Why is it they scream In angst against the regime? Why[Read More…]

What hides underneath all those layers? The layers you got padded with since birth? The layers you did not get to choose But accept without questioning The unwarranted layers You feel comforted in The layers You think Define you Your identity Your being Your existence Peel away the layers My friend Peel Layer After layer Until You emerge To yourself[Read More…]

(This is a fictional scene with no direct or indirect relation with persons living or dead. Any name or scene is utterly co-incidental. The purpose of this poem is to reflect a segment of the society.) So, the sheep-head citizens- You’re here today. Welcome. Have a seat- Like you’ve for decades now. Make yourself comfortable. I know. I know. Nothing[Read More…]

The hangman brought the noose Near an erect neck of a prisoner I must apologise to you,’ whispered the hangmanI am only doing a job for the survival of my family.’ `Execution has been my family occupation for generations The reason is unknown to me Why I should kill and who I should kill. You are only a subject in[Read More…]

dappled bloody sheet and nineteen lakh bodies floating to the asphalt shores of Brahmaputra- naked and filled. Birds flying away, leaves falling cold sun setting low, moon bent till toe homes painted grey, heart- dead fay indians-moments ago, now far away.   how shall one be in solitude in war? how shall one be happy in sorrow? if hunger seeks[Read More…]

Oh, how weeps Mother Earth! Near her toes, the forests burn. Animals in death throes churn. Sumatran anacondas die. Smoke blinds the eye. Hazy skies, poison air People choke. Life comes to a halt. Brazil, her lungs they say, Now fiery flames breathe. With so much smoke, Will Mother Earth choke? Oh, how weeps Mother Earth! Young blood is spilt[Read More…]

Night steals upon us like death… In the morning it leaves one or two cups of coffee untouched on the table! An eerie silence swallows me it howls into my ears. My trembling legs search up and down the lane the sound of boots answer me! At a distance I hear crowds, shouts, Gunshots and wails. You call it calm![Read More…]

episode 1: a regiment of old people, more bones than flesh, are thrown into an army truck. to be unloaded in the woods near some godforsaken border. but, a fierce debate breaks out whether they should be blinded or not. orders are awaited from the capital city. episode 2: a burst of pellets perforate a sieve on a snow girl’s[Read More…]

For cars, baubles, and beef We pledged our untrammeled allegiance For cars, baubles, and beef We declared an insidious war We held our flag up high We demanded full compliance For cars, baubles, and beef We punished all dissenters Here we are today Apocalypse here and now For cars, baubles, and beef We sacrificed our smiling children Progress is hard[Read More…]

A rain of blood fell from the sky on a valley A sixteen year old boy cried in pain when his eyes were hit with pellet bullets `But why?’ He asked the soldier who shot him `You sold our country to another country’ `To which country?’ the boy asked with tears of blood `To Pakistan,’ said the soldier confidently `And[Read More…]

Dead people are free human beings For freedom is a term meant for the living The living dead walking as corpses on streets Or on their best luxurious vehicles Are also are free human beings in their own minds For they do not know that their freedom is determined by others. To that extent, freedom is a mental construct Whether[Read More…]

With those thousands and millions of pieces you have been broken into How long can you keep on fixing them to get through one more day? And with a cracked heart and crushed soul How long till u count yourself among the living fray? With this unthinking unfeeling existence of yours How long till u tire and call it a[Read More…]

Tsunami of aggressive nationalism Across USA, Europe and beyond Internationalism is my creed; patriotism acceptable But not the sedition law   My ancestors born in Pakistan Part of undivided India Communal partitioning in 1947 Affected lives   My mother born in 1921 At Suri Mohalla, Rawalpindi Completed her studies At middle school, Rawalpindi   At school she learnt needle work[Read More…]

I do not wish the sun to rise And I do not wish the moon to disappear The carpenter who made this bed Has done more than he could dream for Saving me from the nightmare of getting up To see what I do not wish to see And to hear what I do not wish to hear If ever[Read More…]

Sometimes I do not like meeting people Whenever I do not like meeting myself Meaningless actions and meaningless words Among the multitude of meaningless people Make me feel the need to enjoy the absurdity To understand that a word in need Is just a word indeed. And when the heaven fell on earth I thought it was a dead flower[Read More…]

On the night of broken glass he reads a poem by Faiz. Outside, someone drives under influence down a frail bridge across the river, after the rains. jo toot gaya, so toot gaya ‘Khuda Hafiz. Khuda Hafiz, Would there be salvage after the wreck?’ asks the squeaky wiper blades to the tune of filmy rain dance that fogs the pane.[Read More…]

 A ghazal for all Kashmiris and In Memoriam Agha Shahid Ali     Soldiers have died in vain and will again. Lovers have kissed in rain and will again.   Neighbors dispute, tragically lose all calm. Nations have split in twain and will again.   Beauty gives power to hurt or heal with balm. Passion brings exquisite pain and will[Read More…]

Dear oh dear Ilhan We see you in our sleep We see you when awake We hear you in all of our being There is nothing like a voice That wavers never at all There is nothing like the strength Of dignity withal Please don’t ever tire Your energies should never wane Stay vigilant dear Ilhan You bless us with[Read More…]

Celebrate, Celebrate the Independence Day While Munch-like screams explode Like fireworks lighting the night sky Silent, vociferous, full of angst Unable to speak Bleak, bleak, bleak. Oh, the cruelty of life! The anger and strife Guernica revisited each time. This is not just about soldiers who die. But about all those who silently cry For a dozen different whys? A[Read More…]

I cannot speak anymore the language of my oppressors. My memory gradually corroded by a billion ants folds into itself. I cannot think anymore, my eyes are vacant, perpetually wandering. I’m defenceless as ever, I put my papers in place and patiently await my turn at the guillotine for them to press the button, for them to cut off my[Read More…]

After Dorianne Laux’s “Kissing” They are kissing at gunpoint. They know they cannot be caught kissing. They are kissing as though the chinars never saw any bloodshed, only lipstick. Asifa is grown up now, she’s kissing her love and her horses are dancing the grass is erupting in joy, the valley is rushing in its unviolated grace because they are[Read More…]

A black father is gone A black husband is gone A black friend is gone A black human is gone He couldn’t breathe He said as much They cared enough To kill him Unsafe Even in your own skin Dead Leaving your kin Remorse is absent Like after stepping on an ant Go, go home Be with your loved ones[Read More…]

Yes, as we speak horrid things are happening Right under our very gaze Yes, as we speak brutality is sport And the children suffer as they have before Is the noise of violence that which defines us? Or is it the silence that lets the noise grow? Is there really a tale of Love in this mess? Or is the[Read More…]

Today we will name The Day of Peace. And when tomorrow becomes today The Day of Social Justice.   When the weekend rolls around first will be The Day of the Council of All Beings followed by The Day of Love our Neighbors along with The Love of Strangers.   To start the new week Day of Earth First. Then[Read More…]

The love that you gave me Was more than what I could handle For I do not know How to return your love So, I placed your love in a fixed deposit And I do not dare to open the deposit In the bank of love where I did not belong. The hatred that you showered on me Could ignite[Read More…]

“Obey me or die!” the orange-haired man threatens the world. “My drones know you’re home, and my missiles don’t miss. I’m Commander in Chief, CinC for short. I’ll sink you into the sea, fry you crisp, burn you to dust with the push of a button. I’ll overthrow your governments, strangle your economies, jail your refugees. I’m the trumpet of[Read More…]

your wings are clipped woman you soaring bird have been dashed to the ground no price will save your person compromise compromise compromise the only panacea for lulled harmony debasement self-effacement take the cue woman your only chance your days numbered your time monitored you don’t even know if you can come or go at the end of it all[Read More…]

A day without hatred or fear a day without prejudice, suspicion or persecution a day without being lied to being swindled or mislead a day without bullying, without abuse, violation violence or murderous terror without the trauma of affliction without humiliation and without a loss of love. A day so natural that the sun rises in the east over the[Read More…]

A psychological disorder is ruling us Which looks at others as disorders Orderly men hung themselves Others were ordered to be relieved From their existence with empty promises. The images of the order surround us In petrol stations, bus stands and railway stations On the streets, on newspapers and television sets His voice blasts on our ears With promises unwilling[Read More…]

A journey through the hills, waters, fields, cities and towns A journey through the pains, sufferings, anger and anguish A journey through laughter, joy, intimacy, bonding and hatred A journey through the wilderness of thoughts and actions A journey through images, words, music and colours This train of life is beautiful to remember. The passengers come and go Some look[Read More…]

You’ve blessed so many, Henry, whom you do not know, Together with your family and every friend. We won’t forget you, even when it’s time to go. In loving memories, good lives don’t ever end. You’ve lived well, Henry, without benefit of fame— The fate of most on turbulent, huge, teeming Earth; But human worth is far more than a[Read More…]

We the Tukde Tukde gang Mentored by RSS Pracharaks And educated by Whaatsapp University and Fake news Media Do resolve to polarize the Society We specialize in accusing others Of breaking the country In the name of Tukde Tukde gang Without stating that we are the ones who do it We break the country In the name of Hindu-Muslim, Mandir-Masjid,[Read More…]

When the womb opens And bleeds again Irregular, untimely This cleansing, purging Innards Rumbling, pouring Not an end To a natural cycle Can you know? What your tantrums Torture and turns does Fear churns out Its own poison And blood gushes out To release the tension It’s a considerate moment When, for a second You are shaken So you say[Read More…]

You were called Sophisticated Yes The chic clothes Were your props The perfume Your halo You carried yourself Well But then There were so many aids Stripped of them You panicked The person in you Had had Too many crutches The two feet The mind Were not enough You ran for cover Preeti Tej Singh has written two books of[Read More…]

With empty stomachs and tattered clothes With lifeless eyes devoid of all hopes With dreams not daring to knock at your hearts Is hatred the lifeline you are really looking for? When the ‘accident of your birth’ decides your fate And even for that the fault is laid down at your gate When people look at you but do-not acknowledge[Read More…]

Your God looks Suffocated In his wooden frame Your God Gasps For air In his prison He looks crushed Beneath your Flowers, incense and offerings You are cruel To his ears With your Relentless chants Recitations and hymns Leave him alone Let him out He needs to breathe To live Preeti Tej Singh has written two books of poetry. The[Read More…]

You built walls The domestic ones And found everything within Your world, your life Your purpose within The family was precious Yours that is What lay beyond Did not matter The empty bowls The festering wounds The blown limbs The body bags Was not seen The ghettos The tear stains unnoticed The million faces The million bruises Were only sights[Read More…]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha[Read More…]

Your breasts Attract no attention Poor woman They are All dried up and loose Black and filthy You yawn You scratch The miserable wretch Tugs at it No milk in it mother He says The men look With disdain And the women Walk past with indifference You wonder Are these breasts only Or you too dead Preeti Tej Singh has[Read More…]

Ideas enlarge They blow out Of the illusive lens The brain is But a locked trove You are A blurred picture In the scope of my vision And my losing sight Has frozen in time You are no longer Caught Between flutter of eyelids There is only A scratched negative It’s a developmental failure It won’t Turn positive Preeti Tej[Read More…]

Keshta, old manservant of mine (Puratan Bhritya) Rabindranath Tagore- a narrative poem Translated by ©Monish R. Chatterjee (2019) Goblinesque of appearance, he was a fool beyond measure Anything went missing, screamed the mistress, “Keshta stole our treasure.” From dawn till dusk, I swore on his father’s name- barely any heed he paid The caning exceeded his earning, yet witless was[Read More…]

This morning light is not enough For me to wake up My sleep is not yet over Do not disturb my dreams For they are more beautiful Than your reality And I do not have to pay for them. Welcome to the world of free dreams Take a room in this hotel of free dreams Order whatever you want You[Read More…]

In time its caws roused me from my ritual morning immersions: sipping coffee, lacing words together, drawing them like fingers Across the surfaces of life, Yet remaining untouched.   How long it cried out for my attention Before I walked to the window to confront it, I do not know, but I knew it was me it had called.  [Read More…]

Jesus came to me I did not recognise him Marx came to me I did not recognise him Ambedkar came to me I did not recognise him Gandhi came to me I did not recognise him Buddha came to me I did not recognise him Then, I came to me `Who are you?’ I asked ‘I am you…!’ He said[Read More…]

Wait! Wait! Wait! For what? Again another debate? Where plots are set for an organised lie Tantrums of intellectuals, leaving others to die Fire is all set to burn the city Ignoring all the screams in its vicinity Poverty claims who is going to be its next prey Heads gamble lives, Azaadi stands far away Barren hearted farmer walks restlessly[Read More…]

Make an audit of the profit and loss account
From the time of evolution of human life
And the loss of lives of humans and other species
Due to the evolution of human race

Your life and mine deserve nothing better

Than a place in the dustbins that humans failed to create.

For this term of your life
An imagination incomplete
And an unfinished existence
Like the half burnt bodies
Which float on the breasts of Ganga river
Swatch Bharat Ki Jai
For a collection of currency notes
Of no value.

A life was pondering around
Between the sky and the earthworms
Neither there nor here
A life destined to be
Meaningful or meaningless

Last night my mother came in my dreams
She asked me, why do you do what you do?
And I said
`Mother, I don’t do what I should do
And I do what I shouldn’t do’
She just smiled and said
`Do what you ought to do
and don’t do what you shouldn’t do’

Do not be afraid, my dear For your fear is what they want And if you agree with them You will become a stagnant slave. Do not become a slave, my child For your slavery is what they want And if you agree with them You will vanish from this landscape. Do not vanish my darling For your disappearance is[Read More…]

Will all the detergents and
Oceans full water of the world
be sufficient to wash away
The stains of sins
That are committed by these beasts..
On women of this country?

I’ve dropped out of regular learning From WhatsApp Education Academy I will now be dabbler, an occasional Visitor, an irregular scholar I have decided to manage my own consumption of information Away from device dependency, I will regain my ability to remember and store memories, and give myself more time for contemplation, time-in-nature, reading books and face-to-face social interaction I[Read More…]

Spreading the news which is Fake Being promoted for the divisive Sake Selling like a hot Cake It is time to be Awake Through producing the fake News To spread the hatred Views Building the lynching Queues By eradicating the cognitive Fuse Serving the Saffron Ring Masters Creating the lie Posters Under the direction of Communal Promoters It is time[Read More…]

Mountains, a moment’s earth-waves rising and hollowing; the earth too’s an ephemerid; the stars— Short-lived as grass the stars quicken in the nebula and dry in their summer, they spiral Blind up space, scattered black seeds of a future; nothing lives long, the whole sky’s Recurrences tick the seconds of the hours of the ages of the gulf before birth,[Read More…]

Abandoned, forgotten passwords, we will be buried and burnt. Or replaced. Our laughter stripped of its sound bytes will freeze in frames. Our conversations will loiter in the marketplaces of lost cities Their wise songs have gone, dashed against cliffs. Wiping off dewdrops from grass lips, the day stretches. Its grayness splits. A bird sings from a branch. Both are[Read More…]

There are hundreds of ways to silence a woman
stare her down if she happens to laugh out loud
in public space especially in the presence of men
where she should be whispering at side lines
make your dismay quite apparent
if it fails to mortify her

The children will sleep tomorrow
Without the waves of the dead
Women will laugh tomorrow
Without bowing near the graves
If we hold our hands
For a new tomorrow
If we have to survive
To host the new flag of life.

He feels she called him out of love,
So turns, his life jumps up, they run
Joyously into each other’s arms
As the snow falls upon them
For the first time,alone to face
The gathering storm.

Hate Taj Mahal as ‘ Muslim’ mausoleum
After visiting it applauding as India’s ‘ priceless gem’
A wonder!

The pain in my mind Affect my body. The pain in my body Affect my mind. Wonder whether these two Had arranged marriage Or love marriage. Since I remain single I am trying to keep away From these two idiots. K.P Sasi is a film maker, writer, activist and cartoonist. He can be reached at kpsasi36@gmail.com  Hindi Translation दिमाग की[Read More…]

A poem for Lorca, Gauri, Santanu and all the other disappearing fireflies

Let’s not extend it to an ‘end’; your lips, thirty two barricades for my fleet
I once had whiskeys of your sigh, I had laughed off the ice
Beyond the border, two hundred lovers in order
Your desire for the garment martyred mine, my gun shot your soul thrice

No God can punish more
And no God can save.
This walk can only be beautiful
With a determined act of walking
The destination can be empty
But those who walk
Need not feel guilty
For their crime
Of being born as human.

Namo…nnamaha! Vande Mataram!
Mothers and sisters, our salutations to you!
Only make sure your limbs are fully swathed
Smothered with textile, yard upon yard of silk or polyester
Head covered, face veiled with ghungat or scarf.

  A boy often falling over other boys Having a big company of girls Trying to be a classical dancer Hands used to move like waves of a sea Giving everything the perfect texture Had Rabindranath, Had Rituparno Girls spending their time with coffee mugs Discussing about the hunky boys Busy in revealing the underwear Alongwith the serpentine biceps Talks[Read More…]

My harvest without a red bell
From my farm
Beneath the well
Watching those eyes burn
Even when few clouds assist
And few turn soft pillows
Making it my debt
I am the last crop

We met at the wrong time,
which, as chance would have it,
is always the right time. No one
who doesn’t know will ever know
what passion can do to calendars.

Load your revolvers with our blood
While we spill you back with words of truth
Bare as the rising sun
You are a mere coward
Faceless as the night
While we are the shifting names that change to resist
Dabholkar, Kalburgi, Pansare, Gauri
The trail of fire is lit
Aim and Shoot

Big Promises, Big Claims
You have often made
But each of these
Have turned out to be fake

This song is for Agartala-based journalist Shantanu Bhowmik who fell last Wednesday to the marauding wrath of Hindutva-Fascist forces who are stirring race-violence based on historical indignations and inequities in Tripura today

We didn’t listen then
and aren’t listening still.
Perhaps we never will.
Who do you think will win
the Doomsday Bowl?

Perhaps,
One of the main mistakes of my life
Was that I was born.
But I can assure you,
I could not help it.
I was not responsible.