What is a human?
A songbird sings. A bellbird yells.
The cuckoo nests where others dwell.
The Tree is witness and all it's branches
The treachery of life, the cracking of shells.
Years go by, and the sands run out.
The curse of Time is to never turn around.
The ills of past be the ills of day
Cracks on the wall don't ever rub away.
What is humanity?
A song of love. A song of hate.
A wicked music to shephard fate.
The dancing of feet to the tune of players
The changing of words to suit the patrons.
ekameva tu śūdrasya prabhuḥ karma samādiśat
udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam.
What is a person?
The Wind blows. The Earth moves.
Mountains rise between a People.
Fires break out: ashes abound,
A mother cries without tears.
A lone tear makes a river swell,
To be a human is to hack and fell.
A bear will hibernate. A moth will drape itself.
A human will lose everything to become a person.
***
mama, i want to grow scales
on other days i want to sit by the side of the stream and watch
the malabar torrent dart whizz by
maybe catch a few
eat some
give those cells the nutrition they've been asking for
feel the world around me
inhale.
words i don't know the meaning of are dancing in the air
exhale
shoo the scary things away
end of the day you will walk back home
rest and rise again
***
Search for me where the Demon thumps a Bible
Where the Angel hacks down the Cross
Where the terrorist rains his fate from the Skies
Where the combat team fires from the Heavens.
I am most oppressive and most oppressed
Curator of the Lord’s Museum and House of Horrors
Grant me tanks and missiles and sanctions
Douse me in petrol and strap me in wires
Let my future pay therapy the torture of the past
Rubber tyre that I jam tight about my neck
Fall into the silent frenzy with my rifle raised
Highest of High, Lowest of Low, Ana Al Haq!
I am the stealthy black shadow that leaves no trace
The white form clumsily hurtling towards the 99th floor
I am the falling Tower and the Mission Accomplished
I am the cynical Blow and the desperado Blowback
Fallen Angel, Lucifer’s rival, God’s visage
I am the vessel of the Left and the Right Shoulder
My feet are in the Clay and my head is in the Heavens
My wings yearn for the Sun but my neck is chained
I am shaper of Worlds, fertilizer for Worms
I am the uniform, I am atrocity’s ash in the wind
I sever the Tree of Life whose branches birthed me
I cage my Mother naked for voyeurs to stare at
I feed my Father to the dustheap of History
I am the branch, the Mother, and the Father
The Son crucified and the Holy Ghost mute
Ana Al Haq, Ana Al Haq, Ana Al Haq, Ana Al Haq!
Where I sat under the pipal tree lost in the Void
Within my serene visage lied the World and Beyond
I leapt in joy from the gallows, self-assembled
Speaking of Unity and Truth Eternal.
Seven days it has been roosting in Limbo
The military tribunals of blood-drunk soldiers
Banal Eichmann on trial before Allah
The Inferno moaning in heated anticipation
The scales oscillating with Divine Wisdom
Blindfolded and at bayonet point I march
Beyond the Sidrat tree.