The molly-coddled generation, us.
You have it easy, you’re devoid of tales.
We’ve never stewed in Costa Rican jails
or taught Lee Marvin how to fight and cuss.
I can’t escape the feeling I’m a wus.
While Runyan had his Harvards and his Yales,
my yarns are all of Dylans, Crystal Gayles -
that’s concerts I was at. I’ve missed the bus.
Are ‘once-removed’ experiences fails?
Should everybody be a Josey Wales,
a Herman Melville, hoisting unsafe sails?
While Kennedys are cool, we need Dan Quayles.
Normality’s what finally prevails -
a life that never jumped the safety rails.
Autumn leaves
fall slow
a child's questions
left hanging
in digital silence.
My fingers trace
letters that will not
hold still
b becomes d
was becomes saw
help becomes
nothing.
The maple outside
my bedroom window
drops one red leaf,
then another,
marking time
the old way.
Mom's phone buzzes:
Car arriving in 3 minutes
Pizza en route
Package delivered.
But no alert sounds
for the moment
understanding
slips away
from me.
No GPS tracks
the distance
between
what I know
and what
I need to know
to keep up
with Sarah, Asha
and Ahmed
and everyone else
who makes reading
look easy.
The tree empties
itself
of summer.
My note
book
empties
itself
of answers
I cannot find.
Both of us wait
for spring,
for someone
to notice
the silence
growing
inside me
in all this
bright, connected
noise.
LAST SO MUCH LOnger
ThAT rANdom Flow oFWordz
ThaT cloud PARt man
gRasped withIN My Hand
The LIStS ARe deLETed
Time TO MAke A LL
---------------------L--A
---------------------L---L
AShamed Of mY hue
ASHA KneW med to be A maN
aSHamed TO BE hU-MAn
if ONly she
WHERE Did i PUT THAT
kNEW whaT I HAdenN't
YEAH you said it Haven't to be
or haVen't not to be
Ive bean
SmilING With The rAin
BUt leaving with The
WINDING yOU Up tILl
the
Lasts
Loss
Born into poverty , unholy society , sobriety the key to my life savings.
Daddy can't put the cider down ,Mama smoking that nicotine like her life depends on it.
She left with a man twice the age of granny never to be seen again and the result was a fat belly.
He quit school thinking he was cool, oh what a fool!
Stormy weather , the boat started shaking , sank six feet deep only to be revived by the divine love from above.
Took the right turn and it was my turn.
Built a legacy big enough , the next generation of my tribe will never starve that was hard work , dedication , understanding life and it's fluctuations and realized perfections is a pigment of humanity' s imagination. It is okay to cry for laughter awaits on the corner.
Macadamized by politics . Choked by sin tax and hated for standing out, well...l kept calm and meditated . Never giving up , now a warrior in the face of injustice.
Born into poverty , buried in silver and gold. Crawled into Asha , walked with tenacity in my adolescent pocket. Grown into diamonds ,the pressure , the realization of dreams and the utilization of time.
Raised by faith. lucifer you lost! Victory is ours.
Triumphant!
No one knows
The day too short
The night too long
Leave your yesterday
Wait only for tomorrow
No one knows
Not even the sage
Under the blue grass
Buried long long ago
Behind the green moss
No one can know
So lay your fears
Under our secret tree
Better to face us
You first class Liar
'Twas the time of Summer solstice, they wed
Verdant leaves clung to trees; the month was June
Whispered troths of love, sacred vows were said
'fore fauna, rising sun and waning moon
Prince Largent was soon to be crowned as king
but Mekram, the wise, held grief in his eyes
He smiled with joy when Asha wore the ring
Though death neared, he feigned a joyous disguise
Bodies joined, celestial and human
Festive auguries 'pon the forest floor
Skies aflame, trees canopied with lumen
Their world glows today, and forevermore
'Twas said to be just an immortal tale
but in June, astral light gleams in the vale
COMING AND GOING
(ASHAJAWA)
Rabindranath Tagore
(Translated by Snehendu Kar)
Love came in such quiet steps
she seemed like a dream.
I failed to welcome her.
As she left,
startled by the sound
of my door
I rushed to beg her return.
By then my dream was without a form,
vanished into the darkness of the night,
leaving only a trace of her lamp-flame,
like a golden mirage
that reached into the far horizon
_____________________
© Translated by Snehendu Kar
Collected Works of Tagore: Vol. 24.p.70
Geetabitaan: p..910
I walk past them
Whistling the national anthem
My body with me but my mind far away
Thinking of how I would get away
From this immoral society
Of strikes and solidarity
She has a baby in her back
Walking aimlessly with him around the park
So confident she seems
If wonders would seize
Them the world would come to a halt
Young woman, have you lost direction?
Do you remember?
Do you remember those early days?
When we were still young and innocent?
When the teacher would ask. Asha what would
You like to be when you grow up?
You would shout
When I grow up I would like to be a teacher,
A pilot endlessly
Is this what you would teach your kids?
Giving them a bad example?
Is this how you would fly your plane?
Definitely it would crumble
Your mother cries each day
For what is done cannot be reversed
You let them use you
And now they no longer want to see you
You walk head held high
Claiming that you don't care
Heed not to the advice and you will wish you knew
Young woman, your dreams are shattered
Have you seen little beautiful butterflies?
All yellow, yellow and red, and all red ones
Bet you can't say who among them the prettiest is.
Eyes are bright buttons like, bows on hair big and small,
A cute little snack bag on one petite shoulder
Clinging to the parent’s or grandparent’s hands.
One of them at times seems to be a little less cheery with
One or two drops on rosy red cheeks
Dear Mamma hugging and consoling
Daddy cool pretending as not seen it.
See them running round and round the pillar
Singing the good old ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’
Sometimes ‘Asha Busha’ and one will fall down
As they wait for the school van to come
Adding more shine to the porch than the gleaming morning sun
Is there any better blessing we can ask for than these little chatterboxes?
Fill your hearts today with this daybreak scene
For tomorrow the children will grow up, lose all their innocence
Become young men and women and far away they will go,
It’ll be even beyond Mars, today’s most distant place
Therefore don’t miss it today!
28th &29th March 2012.
Sandy saunter through virgin sands,
The trudging pathways lead me to beach lands.
Cam a red nude peeped under a Mac,
Slight drizzle from the clouds, into the coco nut grove I move, on the hammock to lie aback.
Blue carpets waves silently lie await to gala regattas,
Satan oscillates my metallic sonatas.
Beneath the tepid and warm waters lie melodies churned,
Now on whipped and agitated waters surf frothy strains upturned.
White virgin sands lie dormant and waiting,
Bright sands looks like satin spread , love making.
Waiting and dormant lie sands virgin white,
Making love ,spread satin like, looks sand bright.
Water gliders and surfers , the sandy shores they crowd,
Skills and mind thrills by practice they are now richly endowed.
Ah Satan sees Natasha,
They are all competing Asha, Natasha, Trasha and handsome Pasha
PALINDROMES
Cam a red nude peeped under a Mac,
Satan oscillates my metallic sonatas
White virgin sands lie dormant and waiting,
Bright sands looks like satin spread , love making.
Ah Satan sees Natasha
By: Sashi .Prabhu (zeauoxian)
Jokhoni mone pore tomar kotha
nijeke mone hoy boro eka
Fir e ki pawa jaina shey khonta
Mohurto gulu abege gatha
Pagol hoy monta
Jeno shara prithibir asha
Shudhui amar mone e aaka
Kaache jete hoy bhoy
Ekti polok dekha
Abar mone e hobe
aami boro eka
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