The Walmartization of the U.S.A. -- Part I

The Walmartization of the U.S.A.
      
This country’s fathers’ paramount desire
was this – pursuit, unlimited, of wealth.

But Jefferson, whose land and slaves were surely
wealth enough, wrote “happiness” instead –
and not because he’d had his fill, but since
he thought the previous word might cause offence
to those who held to Christian norms in speech,
while doing all they could to be as rich
as one, whom Jesus once had pictured as
a camel, seeking passage through the eye
of a needle.  But heaven never was their goal.

A paradise on earth was what they sought,
the reason why they sailed from England’s shores,
with dreams of land aplenty, land that could
be cleared of forests, sown with seed, from which
would spring the harvests, first of food but then
the ones of cash – for landlords, they would be...

And when this dream was challenged by the king,
the landlord over all, who sought his share,
the share he was accustomed to, that fed
the hierarchy of brigands that he headed,
the new lords in the colonies rebelled,
and sent the rabble forth against the king.

And if my tale be slanted to your eye,
Then to your questions I will give reply,
“The truth, of what had happened in the past,
is lost to us. The facts, we may surmise
at times, from what the ones, then living, wrote.
The motivations are unclear at best,
and much of truth has long been put to rest.

“So those, who won, may write of it one way,
while those, defeated, write another tale,
and few are they, dispassionate, who watch
and then have means to let us know their views.

“So you can read, of seventeen-seventy-six,
in local books, from writers of this land
or those from England or from France and see
that each, who saw what happened, be it here,
or from afar, had painted pictures quite
dissimilar – and prejudiced by minds
inclined to one or other creed – and that
the class, to which the writer had belonged,
had played a part in what that writer saw.”

But struggles did not cease with ’76.
Indeed, they then began in earnest and
we see this country racked, like others were,
by endless strife and slaughters with no end.

But I will overpass two centuries
and focus for a while on present times.
In doing this, the longer view is lost
and all the past obscured, that feeds the now.
So I must beg forgiveness for this sin
and then proceed, to pointing with my pin.

I am an immigrant, like those before
but only landed here upon these shores
a year before the bicentennial, that
of nineteen-seventy-six, when Johnny Cash
regaled the multitude upon the Mall.

‘Twixt  Monument and Capitol we stood –
and when the fireworks at the end were done,
we sought the port-a-potties – and I climbed
upon the bus, the way I’d learned to do,
in Dilli, through the window;  then, to home –
or what then served for it, a basement flat,
from which I’d walk a mile or so to school,
and back and forth again and back each day,
four trips in all.  But we were younger then
and ignorant – and work was near to play.

And some of us were earnest, then as now,
while others then were learning of the game
and playing it, as presently, sans shame.

And what’s that game?  Why, simply, it is this –
to focus on oneself, on loss and gain,
to play to win, to bow to those above
and work the ones below, to serve with lip
whatever is the norm that holds in speech,
as did our Jefferson, while holding fast
to that which counts – for self – and acting so
that wealth, which here is happiness, is more.

So is it not the same in every land?
It may be so.  But rarely is this raised,
as here it has been, to a moral code.
But then, I may again be more than wrong…

For I would have to live in far Shanghai,
in London, Zurich and Mumbai,
to sit in offices in Tokyo,
in towers high in Hong Kong and Dubai…

And some, who read this, some of this have done,
so they can judge my verses on the run,
and if they criticize, comment, suggest,
I will be grateful for their interest,
while wishing still that others too could write,
who’ve lived their lives in Cairo, Budapest
or Timbuktu – or far from city lights,
in fields where sun rules day – and stars, the nights.

And to our Jefferson (and I say "our",
while humbly conscious of the arrogance
that this might seem to be reflecting), I
should offer my apologies.  I judge
him from a distance great and so I pick
at faults he might or might not have possessed.
   
So those of stature may be picked upon
by midgets, who may nibble at their toes,
and turn their virtues into vice and say,
"Where most say 'Yes.', we relish saying 'Nay!' "

To all descendants of that man (of all
the races that we seek to superpose
on this our species), I will turn – and say,
"The great have faults – perhaps those made them great.
The lesser then must bear what greater did,
for better or for worse – or seek, in turn,
to change, however slightly, current's course.
And this, some do by action – some, discourse."

< to be continued >

2013 November 29th, Fri.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

The Walmartization of the U.S.A. -- Part II 
  
http://thedailypoet.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-walmartization-of-usa-part-ii.html
 

Winter’s Fury

            
Winter’s Fury
    
In tropic climes, the sun, ascendant,
Rules the summer with its heat.
Rains are welcomed.  Winter braces,
Brings a brief relief that's sweet.

But, in climates that are polar,
Summer’s cherished, and the spring
Is awaited through the winter.
And, with autumn, sun takes wing.

Here, by the cold Atlantic seaboard,
Autumn came, with its slanting sun,
Painted the trees in many colors,
Left, of a sudden, on the run…

******
    
Now winter comes with all its fury,
With banshee winds that howl at night,
For autumn’s left – and taken with it
Remnant warmth and fading light.

The sun, defeated, feeble, arches
Low above horizon south.
The birds have fled – and squirrels sleep,
As blizzards blow from winter’s mouth.

Season grim, of cold and darkness,
Stripping broad-leaved plants of life,
Comes – and many flee before it.
Others hide from winds that knife.

******
    
If springtime be the time for courting
And summer be the consummation,
Then autumn is the time for parting
And winter then is desolation.

So winter comes, like death and taxes,
Season dread, of dark and cold.
And some have strength enough to bear it,
But not the sick or weak and old.

The ones with clothes enough can venture
Out and brave the winds that freeze.
And some have heated homes of comfort
But what brings poor and homeless ease?

****** 
      
For some had slept on subway gratings,
Cardboard-covered, shivering, wet.
But now the councils curve the gratings,
So ease can only come with death.
   
First, the pain in the nose and fingers,
Then, the numbness that foretells
Loss, from freezing, of those members.
So does winter work its hells.
   
Soldiers  fought and died in winters,
Frozen hard in fields of gore.
Others, who were prisoners, suffered,
Frozen till they were no more.

******
    
From the lands of cold and darkness,
Came the hordes – to lands of sun,
Slaughtered, robbed and raped and plundered.
So the south and west were won.

So the Arya, Hun and Mongol,
So the settler with his gun,
So the ruthless armies marching,
With the locals on the run...

But those, who tried, in vain, to conquer
Northern lands – or those on high,
They were fated, by that winter,
To, defeated, freeze and die.

******
    
So the French and Germans perished
As the Russian winter blew.
So the British, in the Afghan
Highlands, paid their venture’s dues.

Humans, born from ape ancestors,
Still can’t live in freezing climes,
Not without the dense apparel,
Learned in Neanderthal times.

Who can deal with winter’s fury,
Save the one, who’s winter’s child?
He survives – but not the stranger,
Ventured north from climates mild.

2013 November 28th, Thu.
(Last Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A.)
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York
 

More About Sex--Playing Coy--Buns, Bosoms and Hair

More About Sex / Playing Coy / Buns, Bosoms and Hair
                           
When my mind was near-exhausted, and my body was fatigued,
I then paused to write some verses, which, of all my torpor, reeked. 
I figured that, with “I” collapsing, Mistress Muse herself might flow
And in my lines, her form of beauty, quite bereft of clothing, show.

Alas, although I write this line as “I” is past collapsing,
I see no trace of her who should, to nudity, be lapsing.    
So I should end this poem now, if you permit that name for it,
And since Ms. Muse is playing coy, I might perhaps take blame for it.

But ending, at the proper times,
My verses, with their pounding rhymes,
Has never been my strongest point.
In this, I tend to disappoint.

So dear Ms. Muse, who’s playing coy,
Your presence, we would all enjoy,
Especially if (Am I being rude?),
You’d sing your songs while in the nude.

Aha!  She’s scolding!  Could it be,
Ms. Muse, herself, yes even she,
In matters that she deems as rude,
Is much inclined to be a prude?

But now I hear a woman’s speech,
A mortal, who presumes to teach
Another mortal, me, the manners
Requisite, displayed in banners.

“Men are low!”  the banners cry,
“We wonder why they do not die!
It’s time we stop from doing jobs
That we have done for those nabobs!”

And those assembled, women all,
With voices loud, for justice call.
Their slogans they repeat, and chorus,
“Men are vile – and worse, they bore us!”

And one by one, they raise complaints,
Reminding men of all their taints.
And singly, or in groups, they rise
And sing of men who aren’t wise.

“They do not see our faces, eyes,
And while they’re spouting out their lies,
They only look for boob and tushy,
Favoring regions round and cushy.

“A man-child sucks upon a nipple,
And some, when older, seek to tipple.
But all men crave, till end, to suckle,
Seeking bosoms till they buckle.

“They find no use for grace or mind.
They fasten on to bust, behind.
Some see our legs -- but then raise eyes
To see what else, between them, lies!

“To call them human is a stretch.
At best, they serve to fix and fetch.
And yet, it’s we who serve as donkeys
For these dimwit, hairy monkeys!

And some shout, “Down with men who’re rapists!”
I applaud, but “Those, who’re apish,
Should be slaughtered!”  I demur at,
Fearing we may all incur that.

The orator, beneath the signs,
For silence, in her hauteur, signs.
“It’s women who should rule this world.
And men should be, in gutters, hurled!

“We women, we have slaved for long,
Before we ever wore a thong,
Before we even dreamed of knickers,
Baring bottoms, hearing snickers…

“Long before our brassieres
Competed with our derrieres,
We have slaved for men, although
We’re better – as we all should know.

“We’re the ones with babes to bear.
The stallion mounts upon the mare
And then departs.   He satisfies
His lust -- and duties then denies.

“And men!   They have this tendency,
In matters sexual, to be
So crass, that we, the better sexed,
Do wonder why we still are vexed.

“For men are simply beings low,
Whose bestial cravings clearly show.
It’s time we put them in their place,
Perhaps in a subhuman race.”

And then I heard a group of nuns,
In habits, with protruding buns,
Proclaim, while rocking their behinds,
“These thoughts have long been on our minds!”

They stomped their feet and wiggled buns,
This group of callipygian nuns.
And slapping then their hips, they cried,
“We nuns have things unchaste decried!

“It’s time that we establish rules
With which to deal with men, who’re fools
In matters that are delicate,
More so, for those who’re celibate.”

And all of the assembled crowd,
Said lustily, in voices loud,
“It’s time for us to end their jigs!
For men are either dogs or pigs!”

On hearing this, I was perplexed.
Are women so, by mankind, vexed?
No wonder then that Mistress Muse,
My pleas, has chosen to refuse!

And thinking then of hounds I’d known
And boars I’d glimpsed (alas, unknown),
I wondered if we men should smile,
For dogs and pigs are not so vile…

I’d started on my verse, collapsing,
Into doggerel, relapsing.
And all that mostly came to mind
Were glimpses, past, of round behinds…

And then, as twin reflections, those,
That on pubescent torsos rose,
So’s to balance rear attractions,
Creating thus, in mankind, factions…

But though a woman’s form was fair,
At center was her best affair,
That called to men through several senses,
 When women used to air their menses…

But now, alas, a woman’s draped,
With fears, when nude, of being raped.
And some, who see them as possessions,
This covering up, they take as missions.

And so, perhaps they have it right,
These women.   Men -- they aren’t bright.
The things they crave, they try to hide,
While seeking eyefuls on the side.

But charms, when hidden from the light,
May cease, in time, to give delight.
For Nature meant for parts with hair
Access to healing light and air…

But see, by writing vapid verses, being then by buns accosted,
We men can still remain awake, even when we’re quite exhausted. 
And though Athena stays aloof, Aphrodite takes her place,
For she delights in showing us the teasing parts below her face.

And if, at this, some women sniff, while others frown or even glower,
And some advise that versifiers take, perhaps, a freezing shower,
I declare, that while collapsing, seeking bare Athena’s song,
I encountered, in my musings, Aphrodite, sans her thong.

2013  November 25th, Mon.
(with some stanzas added Nov. 27th, Wed.)
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
  

Genghis Khan Has Come To Town

             
Genghis Khan Has Come To Town
                                 
Awake, oh citizens of the ancient city,
When you were sleeping, waiting for the dawn,
A horde had gathered and, before the sun,
Had entered this, your city, as the gates
Were opened by the gatemen, they who saw
The army stretching to the distant north…

Awake, oh citizens, awake and see
The Mongol horde is here, with all the rest.
And many are their tongues -- but they are one,
United in their lust for conquest, loot,
For women that they’ll rape or take as slaves…
Awake, for Genghis Khan is in your town!

And when you see the soldiers, look away,
But when you see their lordlings, then bow low.
We have survived invasions, plagues, before.
So to this tempest bend, and it will pass,
And then we’ll nurse our injured, bury those
Who gave their lives – and carry on.

But sing the praises now of conquerors.
In Mongol, sing – for I will show you how.
We all will sing, as we had done before,
We’ll sing the praises of our conquerors.
We'll imitate their ways and learn their tongues…
Sing now, “Genghis Khan has come to town…”

2013 November 24th, Sun.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
   

E`mon Drixxo Dekhechi Xo`pne (Such a Vision)

Moon and Mountains, Ladakh
from Monali Padhali’s Facebook post
(Click on the image to see a larger version.)

E`mon Drixxo Dekhechi  Xo`pne

Rater xexe, ghumer gho`re,
Joleche agun mathae.
K~edechi to`khon, “No`rok-bixxe,
Khalax amar kothae?”

E`mon drixxo dekhechi  xo`pne,
Bhorer komol tire.
Ta dekhe amar jurieche pran,
Xitol exeche xire.

2013 November 24^th, Sun.

Brooklyn

View from Blue Ridge Parkway
from Cecil Gover's Facebook Post
(Click on the image to see a larger version.)
  
Such a Vision

When night was ending, in the house of dreams,
A fire was burning in my brain.
And so I cried, "In this infernal world,
Where is my salvation?"

I saw then such a vision in my dream,
By the misty shores of dawn,
That healed my body and consoled my soul.
This left me whole again.

2013 November 24^th, Sun.

Brooklyn
  

Language

                  
Language   
                   
A language is a living thing.
It breathes and grows and pulses.
It melds with us when we are young.
It’s always at our service.
And yet we are as cells that serve
The mind that lives in language.
  
How varied are our human tongues,
In rhythms, sounds and structures.
And yet they are projections, each,
Of that, which can’t be spoken.
        
******
   
A language is a living thing
That shifts and sways and dances.
The songs we sing are sung through us.
The singer true is hidden.
But in our speech, we hear it talk.
It lives in us as language.
  
So every dialect’s the same,
However each may vary.
And that’s because the mind’s the same,
That’s there, in every sentence.
      
******
  
There is a tongue that has no tongue,
And so cannot be heard.
And yet we know that it is there,
By inner sense inferred.
And each of us can feel it speak
In silence, if we listen.
   
So premonition, like a cat
That walks on velvet feet,
Comes padding by.  A faint “meow”.
We turn -- and it is gone.
      
******
  
A language is a living thing,
And yet, it’s like a shadow
That changes form with time of day,
With latitude and season.
And when the clouds are blowing wild
It vanishes.  We seek it.
 
And as the sun breaks through the clouds,
It’s born again.  We see it.
We know that it was always there.
So language is a shadow.
 
******
   
While languages, from others born,
May live their spans and fade,
In wanton acts, we murder them
As remnant speakers perish.
So as we kill the species, so
We kill our cultures too.
  
And what we’ve done is vaunted then
As progress.  Such advances
Bring tears to those remembering
The riches and the nuances.
  
******
    
As we may love a being that
Has a face and limbs and body,
So also we may love a tongue
That’s living or has perished.
As none can substitute for one
Who’s gone, so naught -- for language.
  
How tender is that love we feel
For a tongue we learned as infants…
How grievous is our loss when we
Have none, with whom to speak it…

******
   
As lovers are devoted, so
The poets are to tongues,
For a dialect has its flavor that
No other one can match.
As women have their essences,
So languages have musks.

For even as two siblings might
Have characters apart,
So sister tongues have melodies
As different as birds'.

******
   
How humble is a patois,
How regal, classic verse.
Yet each has provenance the same,
Like those, of women birthed.
They rise in rustic habitats
And end as they began.

And urban speech, where finance rules,
Is rapid, clipped and terse,
But where horizons far are seen,
The speech there slows and broadens.

******
   
Some languages are musical
And others seem more rough,
But that, imbibed with mother's milk,
For each, is sweet enough.
The lullabies of of mother tongues
Give sustenance to us.

And language can be used to lie,
To subjugate, confuse,
Or it can light the way to truth
And liberate, refute.

******
   
Like sea reflecting sky, a tongue
Can alter with our moods.
And so there's speech that's like a gun,
And that which soothes the heart.
But blame this not upon the tongue
Nor give it credit false.

For language is a living thing
That changes as we do.
When madness rules our lives, our tongues
Reflect that madness too.

2013 November 23rd, Sat.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
  

Our Business Cannot Fail

     
Our Business Cannot Fail
  
We’re getting tired of parties,
And the local food is shit.
This isn’t what we’re here for,
So we’re getting tired of it.

We can see you like to grovel.
It’s your culture, we are told.
But it isn’t what we’re after
And it’s getting kind of old.

You can bow or you can curtsy,
You can give our hand a shake.
But we really would prefer it,
If it’s profits we could make.

For we’re here to do some business,
Get some business – get our drift?
If we do not get that business,
Then there’s going to be a rift.

So it’s you and us together --
And you’ll sign and we’ll depart.
For it isn’t, for you, healthy,
If we’re forced to move apart.

For it’s you and us together,
So you live to tell the tale.
Or it’s you against our business.
And our business cannot fail.

Yes, it’s business that we’re after,
And it’s business that we’ll get.
If we do not get our business,
It’s this bullet that you’ll get.

You can show your teeth or glower,
And our hands, you needn’t shake.
For to break your teeth, we’ve power,
If our profits, we don’t make.

So here it is.  Now sign it.
And it’s time you start your hustle.
You had better get them working,
For you know that we have muscle.

You had better get them working,
So they’ll earn for you, your dollar.
We can make you rich, eh, partner?
We can also make you holler.

You’ve got to drive the workers,
You’ve got to make them work.
You’ve got to show the shirkers
That they simply mustn’t shirk.

It's time for you to hustle,
And it's time for you to please.
So quit your smiling, buddy,
For we're here to give the squeeze.

We gave you what you wanted
And we’ve waited for a while.
But all that you’ve delivered
Is your oily little smile.

But we’re here to do some business
And it’s all about the cash.
And if you can’t deliver,
Your noggin, we will bash.

2013 Nov. 21st, Thu.
Brooklyn
  

Evening Mass

                
Evening Mass
         
As I was walking by St. Finbar's Church,
I heard the organ and the evening mass.
I heard the converts in the basement sing.
I heard their voices as they rose and fell.
It seemed, in this our world, that all was well.

But, recalling then the history
Of those who sang of faith and mystery,
Remembering then, how their ancestors died
And for a bit of peace and justice cried,
I knew this world of ours was far from well,
More distant, yes, from heaven than from hell.

I heard the Guatemalans in the basement sing,
I saw some coming down the street to join –
In Sunday best, a little family...
I saw them cross themselves before the church
And quietly enter, by the side, to sing.

And I remembered then, how they had fled
Their country, ravaged by the endless wars,
How cash and arms had streamed from here to south,
How many then were hunted, massacred...
How those surviving lived from hand to mouth,
How many homeless ones had grieved alone...

And so they traveled north, where money went,
And some had papers, others never did.
They took up humble trades and quietly hid,
For they were quiet people, most of them –
Except on Sundays, when they donned these clothes
And gathered in the basements, there to sing.

A simple story, told by a simpleton.
The truth, you can be sure, is more complex.
But you will have to sit and talk with them
In Spanish or in Quiché.  Then you'll glimpse
The many threads that weave that history
Of silent ones – of faith – and mystery.

For these are “Indians” – not my Asian kind,
But folk of  these, the western continents.
And those, who've traveled far, from Central Am,
Are quiet folk, of stature small and slight.
But when you talk with them, you'll see, at times,
Some traces left – of a soft and ancient light...

And all the weight of ages – Maya, Spain,
The persecutions and the silent pain,
This past, you'll feel – or hear in cadences,
The muted tones of those who've suffered much,
But haven't walled themselves; they're forest folk,
And used to sounds of death – and silences.

So when they sing of Jesus on the cross,
They know of what they sing, for they have seen.
And when they sing of resurrection, they
Have tears that flow – as those, who're grieving, pray.
Far from their homes, in a foreign land, they sing,
The ones they left at home – or gone – remembering...

I heard them singing in the basement and
I briefly thought that I could understand...
And for a moment, there, by Finbar's Church,
My heart was touched and filled, with grace divine,
As pastors poured the sacrificial wine.

November 17th, Sun.
Brooklyn
  

Typhoon

Typhoon

Dreaming, in the time before the dawn,
I heard a woman crying, “All is gone!
My husband and my daughters and my sons,
My mother and his mother – and the house...
And I am here – and searching, crazily.
But where are they?”

I could not answer.  All around were strewn
The wreckage and the litter of the storm.
The corpses still were rotting – and their stench
Befouled the air and sickened every breath.
Her eyes beseeched, with hints of lunacy,
But I stood mute.

And then I woke, as light was streaming in.
And when I breathed, the air was cool and fresh.
But I remembered well, what I had dreamed.
I saw that face – and felt that helplessness.
And so, at school, I gave my dollars ten.
But where were they?

2013 Nov. 16th, Sat.
Brooklyn
          
http://care.org/emergencies/typhoon-haiyan

https://www.rescue.org/donate/typhoon-haiyan

http://ifrc.org/typhoon-haiyan

Gotama and Gauss

           
Gotama and Gauss
     
I dreamed, Gotama met with Gauss,
And left serenely, when he heard, “Heraus!”
It was a scene that could have seen some drama,
But did not see it, thanks to clear Gotama.

I also dreamed that Nietsche, meeting Gandhi,
Had hurled, at him, whatever then was handy.
And in my mind, this painted quite a picture,
With Gandhi dodging what was hurled by Nietsche.

And Marx was met by none than Sri Chaitanya,
Who chanted, “Charles, I prayed to God to find ya!”
Was Karl then ruffled, or provoked to sparks?
He muttered, “God – and you – get failing marks."

Though Kipling wrote that East and West won't meet,
I saw them meeting, though it wasn't sweet.
But sour or not, the western mind forgot.
The east remembered, as has been its lot.

I wandered then to western Asia, where
The "twain" have met, who each find hard to bear
The other's ways -- and where the prophets cried --
And far too often, via torture, died...

Muhammad meets with Jesus and with Moses.
And each of them has hooked, “Semitic” noses.
And each insists that his is the religion
Of the god they share, who scorns the others legion.

I wonder, should I join in this discussion,
But exercise, instead, a safe discretion.
Can humble folk like I, with these, dispute?
Where blood has flowed,  it's prudent to be  mute.

I bow then to these prophets three and pray,
"I wish you gentlemen a wondrous day.
I hope that humans all will take the best
Of what you offer -- and forgo the rest."

I traveled then to colder, northern climes,
Where things were moving fast, with modern times,
And revolutions and their deaths were seen
In spans so short as seemed, to some, obscene.

And in my dream, I saw that Lenin, he,
With Thatcher and with Reagan, chanced to be.
But Deng had come, with sundry things to sell,
And I awoke, for Mao was roaring, “Hell!”

But then I slept again – and Nehru smiled,
For he, with charm, had Jackie O beguiled.
Onassis then was dallying with Callas.
Michelle and Dubya danced away in Dallas.

So revolutions come and go, but this,
What humans do, to pass their days, persists.
And some say, "This is all." and others, "No!"
But most remain unsure, which way to go.

I tossed and turned in moral indignation,
And snored again in abject resignation.
Confucius and Lao Tse appeared and left,
And I again awoke – of all of them bereft.

I prayed then to the spirit of Tagore,
But saw, beside him, stood rotund Al Gore.
And as the white-beard sang of Nature's smile,
The round one lectured, “Her, we now defile.”

The sight of Nature, smiling, being raped,
Disturbed me much.  Her heaving breasts, I draped,
Within my mind, and slapped our bestial kin
On his behind, for such audacious sin.

But those of finance then arose in fury,
And I was killed, not seeing judge or jury,
By a missile fired from a drone that flew away,
In a sky of blue, on a Himalayan day...

But I survived – or else was resurrected,
Or else my waking was, of dreams, constructed.
And so, unlike the others, killed from high,
I sit and type these verses, asking, “Why?”

Gotama answers clearly, “It's because.”
And Gauss says, “I don't rhyme with words like “gauze”.
And Nietsche chases Gandhi all around,
While Marx cannot, by those who seek, be found.

And now – a spirit, sere -- it is Osama,
Of recent, killed, by order of Obama.
He has the eye, of one who knows that money
Can buy such things, as only he finds funny...

And Saddam too is risen from the grave.
He's spitting curses fit to cow the brave.
And Dubya's dodging shoes like he's a pro.
Yay, Dubya!  That's the way to go!

But Modi glowers fiercely.  He is bearded.
He gives a speech.  The millions, who have heard it,
Are cheering wildly.   I awake, in fear,
And see, it's dusk – and night is drawing near.

And so I huddle back within the covers,
And soon enough, a sprite, returning, hovers.
It's Omar, who has pity on our souls
As we pursue our e'er receding goals...

There are such things, as were, before we came
And will remain, when we have played the game
And left.  And pebbles, such, we find,
Upon the shore, that please our mortal mind.

And when we find companions, for awhile,
Who've seen what we have seen and smile,
The thrill of recognition of the truth
Is briefly shared, by those, whom such things suit.

If Bhaskara and Euler were to meet,
And Ramanujam too was there, to greet
Al Beruni, Gauss –  would Khayyam's wine
Then overflow his cup, in sphere divine?

So Euclid and Pythagoras are seated
With Al Khwarizmi. Talk is heated.
But I can see, they're smiling through it all.
That Eden past, such gentle smiles recall.

So Tolstoy sits with Gandhi and Tagore,
And of such trios, I see more and more.
And Ho Chi Minh has come to Chhattisgarh.
He wishes, there, with others, to confer...

Returning then, to Gauss and to Gotama,
And to that scene that could have seen of drama,
I wondered how these towering thinkers two,
Could be, like us, as errant humans too.

For though Gotama had disposed of ego,
He still was saddened at being ordered out.
And wondering, where a seer could go,
He saw a beer-hall, entered, ordered stout...

And there he sits, while sipping of the brew
Which others, who are bhikkus, must eschew.
Does he remember, still, that meal that led
To illness -- that, which left him cold and dead?

Perhaps.  But as he ponders, Gauss calculates,
And each new finding, quietly celebrates.
So east is east and west remains as west,
And each does that, which surely it does best.

But as it's time to wake, I do espy
That Lear and Carroll, walking, pass me by,
And Ray the father, laughing, walks with them.
But I must leave, and stifle my "Ahem!".

2013 November 15th, Fri. & 16th, Sat.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
 
Note added:  The phrase "Ray the father" in the last stanza is ambiguous.  It was meant to refer to Sukumar Ray  (Xukumar Ro`e), the father of the film director Satyajit Ray (Xottojit Ro`e) -- and the grandfather of  Sandip Ray (Xondip Ro`e), also a filmmaker.  Sukumar Ray died at an early age, but produced several literary works, including Abol Tabol,  a classic volume of playful Bengali nonsense verses.  These are unique, and yet reminiscent of  the  poems of two Englishmen -- Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll (the mathematician Charles Dodgson).  
        
The Wikipedia article on Sukumar Ray has some insertions that need copy-editing.  A documentary film on him, directed by his son, Satyajit, with Sandip also mentioned in the subtitles, is available as video on YouTube.  It is well worth watching.  

Sukumar Ray also wrote a children's novel, Ho`jo`bo`ro`lo` (Hajabarala), inspired by Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.  It is alleged that  Steven Spielberg's film, E.T., was based on a screenplay by Satyajit Ray, meant for a Hollywood movie that never was.  Satyajit Ray used to illustrate his screenplays with sketches, and it is likely that the appearance of  the extraterrestrial in Spielberg's film derives  from one of these. 

The spelling of the the Rays' names, including the last name,  may be misleading to non-Bengalis, as regards pronunciation.  The conventional spellings (in both Roman transcription and in the Bengali script) are closer to representing how the names would be pronounced in, say, Hindi or (for the first names) in Sanskrt. These conventional spellings do not properly represent how they are currently pronounced in standard Bengali.

 With x representing the sh cluster of English spelling, and  t being a dental, as in the Latin languages, the pronunciations of the names may be better represented as Roy, Xukumar, Xottojit and  Xondip.  I had transcribed the last name, earlier, more systematically,  as Ro`e, but Roy will suffice here -- as there is an English name (as in Roy Rogers) that is pronounced as the Rays' last name should be pronounced. 
    

Isaac and Albert

                
Isaac and Albert
                  
I once had learned, from someone who was dead,
That an apple fell on Newton's balding head.
Those watching thought this cause for levity,
But Newton found the cause was gravity.

And in that dead man's book, I also read
They'd pickled what was inside Einstein's head.
Was genius found?  The answer: “Negative.”
From some;  from others, “All is relative.”

On hearing this, a scholar gnashed his teeth.
“Alas!” he said, “We must admit defeat,
From those, whose knowledge is both scant and wrong.
In a world of these, the wise do not belong!”

But one, who was his mentor, counseled this,
“No need, my son, to grind your teeth and hiss!
The subtleties of science and of nature
That were, before, still are – and will be, later.”

******
 
If Isaac, Albert, were, perchance, to meet
Upon a bus, would Albert yield his seat,
With mischief in his eye, and say, in jest,
“Be seated, sir – and find, perhaps, your rest.”?

Or if they met, within an elevator,
With little chance of leisured chatting later,
As cables snapped, would Isaac then surmise
What Albert had, before their swift demise?

To those, who ask, how resurrection works,
We answer – this, in deepest physics, lurks.
And so it is that Newton, Einstein meet,
And what they'd started, finally complete...

Returning to that author, who is dead,
But gossips on, within my balded head,
I hope the two of us will meet, as persons,
So I can question him about his versions...

2013 November 15th, Fri.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
  

All About Sex

    
All About Sex

Flirtations, romances and flowers and hearts,
The nuances, flavors, of amorous arts –
If all of these bore you, then let me remind you,
They really are all about sex.

Now I've got your attention, be you woman or man,
As anything sexual, said flippantly, can,
For where Venus is present, in the past or the present
Or future, she beckons – it's sex.

And the sexes may differ, but in this, they're the same –
They spring to attention at the touch of that flame,
Be they young or much older, be they timid or bolder –
At the touch of the flame that is sex.

But the arts of arousal, for the sexes, diverge,
As they each have their senses that urge.
For the men, it is vision, despite the derision
Of women – who're also for sex.

But they much prefer hearing, through feminine ears,
The words that arouse them and chase away fears.
And some may be fooled, but the others have ruled
That a man has to pay for his sex.

And it isn't a dollar, or ruble or yen,
Which may be a lot for the stingiest men.
It's a life that is asked for, and that's how it's paid for.
And now, you've learned all – about sex.

******
                 
But the women, on hearing this nonsense, may yell,
“There's more to that thing than you've ventured to tell!
Or could it be this – ”  and the women now hiss –
“that you don't know a thing about sex?

“For the men may spring up – it's just one of their acts.
And parts of us do – but we mostly relax.
And there's sight and there's hearing, but there's also that nearing,
There's touch and there's scent – and there's sex!

“For the men may be thinking that the males are the studs,
But in matters that matter, the truth is – they're duds!
For though they have feared us and though they've repressed us,
It is we who know more about sex.

“For what we relinquished, as patriarchs ruled,
And women, as sexless, were drilled and were schooled,
Is our rightful domain, and will always remain
That of women – the realm that is sex!”

And the men, who were silent, at the thought of the dollar,
Now in finding their voices, may join in, to holler,
“We're tired of this crap, from this prancing old chap,
For what does he know – about sex?

“For it's sex that we've wanted, since reaching our teens.
And though, oh too often, we hadn't the means,
Since our teens, we've been surging, and so we are urging,
That you stop all this talk about sex!”

******
        
So the men and the women, in this, are united,
That I tamp down the flame I ignited.
But though it is rude to be publicly lewd,
I wish I could dwell more on sex.

For I'm told by my spies that they have detected
A tower or missile that Mars has erected,
And they tell me there's moisture where Venus has pasture,
Yet it's time to put end to this sex.

But I'd opened a window – and if I now close it,
To whom will you bring the deposit?
But I can't be a banker to every dear wanker,
Though I've led you along with the sex.

And if some would be arcing and seeking release,
I wish there were ways, by which I could please,
But others, more "moral", are giving me oral
Instructions to cease with the sex.
   
So alas, it is time, because they all urge it,
To zip up the verse.  If I'm leaving you turgid
On reading this ditty, then it's really a pity,
But I'll leave you alone with your sex.

And I also should say, as I bid you goodbye,
That I'm sorry that I cannot lie.
If you think I've been rude, because I've been crude,
Remember, it's all about sex.

2013 November 11th, Mon.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
 

The Tribes of Trees

          
The Tribes of Trees
       
How many tribes – of plants – and even trees!
So let me speak awhile of only two.
These tribes, I've seen – and wondered at them both
Through all my life – and so perhaps have you.

The conifers are somber, dark and dense.
And when we're near them, we ourselves are tense.
For they must battle Nature, where they stand.
Their gravity, survivors understand.

The broad-leaved ones are laughing in the light.
And in their laughter, some of us delight.
Their leaves are motion, like the waves that play
Across the sea that shimmers through the day.

How stoic are the pines and firs and spruce,
How strong, how graceful are the cedars tall...
How changeful are the maples, oaks and more
Who wake in spring and slow to sleep in fall...

The evergreens have leaves that never freeze.
But trees deciduous shed their tropic leaves,
Remembering, through winter, summer's sun.
In resurrection, she, who sees, believes...

How bleak would winter be, without the greens
Of conifers that stand and witness all...
How tame would be the spring, without the ones
That wait for it – and blaze again in fall...

The tribes of trees are varied, more than men,
And those of us, who seek their company,
Can find a tribe that seems to that reflect
That dwells in us and joins in symphony.

And surely, tribes of trees and men have place
Beneath the sun that feeds the trees and us.
And yet, we slaughter both so wantonly,
Despising those who make the slightest fuss.

2013 November 9th, Sat.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
 

The Winter Comes

 
The Winter Comes
   
The winter comes, with darkness and with cold,
With shortened days and nights of huddling close.
The winter comes, with freezing rain and sleet,
With blizzards, biting winds and drifting snows.

The winter comes, with battling winds that bring
Those endless snows, those dark and brooding skies.
The winter comes, with long and freezing nights –
And weakened sun that struggles, slants and dies.

The winter comes, as autumn takes its leave,
With fevers, 'flus – with windows shuttered tight.
The winter comes, with sneezes, coughs and more,
As autumn leaves – and takes, with it, the light.

The winter comes and strips the trees of leaves,
It comes and taxes those, who're ailing, old.
The birds will flee – and huddled beasts will sleep,
For winter comes, with darkness and with cold.

2013 November 9th, Sat.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn 

Dead Man Risen

                        
Dead Man Risen
      
I saw a dead man risen, with
The pallor of the grave.
I saw him walking towards me, as
My feet were turned to stone.

I saw that he was nearing, so
I tried then to be brave,
With all my sins before me and
No time then to atone.

And as he came upon me
And I trembled and I shook,
He reached his hands towards me
And in my eye did look.

And lo, though I was shaking,
I saw, within his eye,
The self, that had been hidden,
And it was none than I.

2013 November 8th, Fri.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
 

Autumn

                     
Autumn
           
It's autumn and the yellowed leaves
Are dying, one by one.
The city's streets are littered
With their corpses, myriad.

The polar winds are blowing through
The city and we hear
The voices of the dead, as they
Are rustled down the streets.

******
  
A sickled moon is hanging
In the darkening autumn sky.
A sickened moon is waning and
It seems about to die.

And near that dying moon, there shines
A red and baleful star.
We shudder, as we see it, at
The horrors, dread, of war.

******
   
It's autumn and the winter, it
Is camped upon the hill.
It looks upon the city and
It seizes up its prey.

It breathes upon the city and
Its breath is dank and chill.
That winter will be coming and
Its will, we shall obey.

******
   
It's autumn, and the winter, it
Is camped upon the hill.
It's autumn, and the summer, it
Is lingering on the sea.

And winter will be coming, with
Its darkness and its chill.
Then summer, long departed, will
Have seemed to never be.

2013 November 7th, Thu.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
    

New York City De-Bloomed + Bloomberg's Gone

New York City, De-Bloomed

Bloomie's gone, with all his snooties.

Let's hope that Bill won't catch his cooties!

De Blasio's here, and though ungroomed,

We're glad our city's now de-Bloomed.

 --------------------------------------------

Bloomberg's Gone!

Bloomberg came and Bloomberg went.

He'd bought himself an extra term.

You'll find that there's no argument:

He leaves our city more infirm.

Of hubris he had plenty, so

He thought that he could run the show.

A democrat, small "d", he wasn't.

A little king, he ruled from high.

His manners, they were quite unpleasant.

And so, we're glad to say, "Goodbye!".

He thought that he could fix our schools,

And failing, called the teachers fools.

"But those who think they know the answers,

Or that the answers can be bought,

They're the fools!"  So sing the dancers,

Who, in Bloomberg's trap, were caught.

"Oh hi, oh ho!  Oh heidiho!

Bloomberg's gone!   He's mayor no more!"

But Bloomberg, he is sly and crafty!

He's a shyster with the dollar!

He squeezed us all, for he's no softy,

Squeezed us workers for the dollar!

His worth, at start?  It was four billion.

And now?   It's over thirty billion!

His friends and he made out like bandits.

Our labor did their coffers fill.

His lawyers, they secured the conduits.

And that is why we've chosen Bill.

No more, no more of your accountants!

Begone, Mike B. -- and keep your distance!

You spent your time in the Caribbean,

But kept your eye upon your fortune.

Your words for us, who labored, plebeian?

"Work more, you dummies!  Don't importune!"

Your ways, they made us ill with nausea.

And that is why we chose De Blasio.

2013 November 5th, Tue. (Election Day)

Brooklyn, New York

Encounter–II--A Little Bit of Rice

                                
Encounter – II  /  A Little Bit of Rice
                               
I was wandering in the country, when I met an aged man.
And it seemed that he was starving, so I offered him some rice.
He sat down then to eat it, and he ate it very slowly.
Each grain of rice, he savored, as he put it in his mouth.

I watched him as he sat there, but I felt that I would cry,
So I moved away and circled – and when I had returned,
I saw that he had eaten only part of what I'd given,
Which itself was but a smidgen, as I hadn't much myself.

And I saw that he was wrapping, in a leaf, what he had left.
So I asked him, was he saving it for eating later or
Was there someone, who was waiting, whom he'd saved a portion for.

But he only smiled and nodded, for his language wasn't mine,
And I watched him as he hobbled down a dusty country path.

I was hungry, so I settled down and ate my rice myself,
With a bit of precious lentils that I'd salted – and a pickle.

And I felt that I was guilty as I'd only given rice
To that aged man who seemed not to have eaten for a while.
And as I sat there eating, I remembered still his smile.

I sipped then on the water, that I'd carried in a bottle,
And I rose and walked to westwards, towards a village that I knew.
And I saw the sun was sinking – and my heart was sinking too.
For the stores I had were dwindling – and my stores by then were few.

But that aged man was walking, as I walked, within my mind.
And I saw that he was smiling, for that little bit of rice.

2013 November 4th, Mon.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
 
Some Earlier Encounters

The Teacher -- 2013 Sep

Encounter -- 2013 July

Strange Encounter -- II -- 2011 Nov

The Watcher -- 2006 Sep

Strange Encounter -- 2006 April
   
       

Poems Related to Teaching -- 2013-11-03

Poems Related to Teaching (2013-11-03 Sun)

Here below are some of my poems related to teaching.  I have listed them in loose categories.  The list is incomplete.  I will try to revise and update it from time to time.  Thanks for visiting. -- Arjun

Note added:   Those interested in a high school science teacher's personal views on teaching may also want to read some of my posts on the The Humble Subject Teacher  blog, such as the one On Teaching (2013 Sep).  Those who have the time may also wish to examine The Sample Bill of Rights for Teachers (2006).
    
A different, and perhaps more refreshing, perspective may be found in the last three stanzas of  Tutors Two.
      
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Students

My Dream -- a student's simple ambition, 2013

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teachers and Others in the Schools
  
The Teacher  -- burnout: idealism and dedication against the harsh realities of the schools, 2013

To Our Gary  -- A teacher retires gracefully after thirty years, while working, to the end, till 6pm every day at his school.  2013.

Gerald Goldstein -- In Memoriam  -- remembering an extraordinary lab. specialist, 2006

Kathy McGunigle  -- a teacher's teacher, 2006

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teaching / Personal / Philosophy

Teachers' Lounge  -- Past, present and future meet at the Brooklyn Studio School.  2006.

Tutors Two -- In the last three stanzas of this poem reflecting on my years teaching, I wonder where our best students are headed -- and offer them the advice, from the heart, that I cannot give them in my classes.  2012.
 
Teachers' Cafeteria -- Part I  -- at New Utrecht High School's new basement cafeteria, 2013

Teachers' Cafeteria -- Part II -- reflecting on commuting to Canarsie High School (1989-2002), 2013


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resistance

The Small and Easy Lie -- Acceding to falsehoods imprisons us in a network of lies.  2013.

Never See the Light / Who's to Blame? -- We can change things for the better -- or let them get worse.  2013.
    
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satire / Philosophy
 
Data Driven Supervision -- Need I say more?
   

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rants and Edupolitics

New York City, De-Bloomed + Bloomberg's Gone -- local elections, 2013
  
With Harlot Falsehoods -- on integrity, 2013

Ted and Sarah and Bachman and Rhee -- on the state of the union

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historical

Cafeteria in the Sky -- looking out from New Utrecht High School's old 6th floor cafeteria, 2006
   

City and Village

City and Village
     
A city offers much that a village can't.
And yet, it is our villages that give,
To each of us, a soul and sustenance.
We try, within a city's multitude,
To make our little clans, our villages.
And some succeed in this – and others don't.

Some work to live – and others live to work.
And work may fill a life, or lives consume.
But work will have an end, as all things do,
And those, whose lives were work, are then marooned.

There's air and warmth – and water, food that we
Require to live.  But there are other things,
Without which lives are bleak and sad indeed.
For some, it's music, art.  Yet others feed
On varied stuff, not just of atoms made.
But each, except the hermit-saint, has need
At times, of other mortals' company.

The villagers depend on others there,
And so do townsfolk, though they this deny.
Their shelter, water, food and more derive
From others' labor, oft invisible
To those who live in cities modernized.

And they forget how they, of two, were born,
How many then had aided them to live
When they were babies – or were still at school
And learning what they'd later use to earn
Their livings or enjoy their present lives.

If we've had one or more who lived with us,
How hard it is for us, when they are gone
And never will return.  A dinner then
Is loneliness – relieved, perhaps, by a screen
That flickers as it shows how others live.

So some have cats and dogs that occupy
The spaces that a human might have filled.
And as we age, and strength and work contract,
So do our spheres, until we're left as one.

And so, we wish that we were villagers
Where climes are warm, and air and children pass
Through open doors, with crying, laughter heard
By elders as they sit outside or walk –
Or lie on floors at night, in starlit rooms,
In touch with earth, beneath the sky – and part
Of human lives.

Yet villagers – they envy city folk.
The young depart to find employment in
The cities, fabled for their wealth and sin.
And some return – or send their monthly dues
To those they left behind, remembering...

But others never do, in newfound lives
Engrossed or trapped, in struggles there enmeshed,
Forgetting who they were, and giving birth
To children who might never know the woes
And simple joys that their ancestors knew.

2013 November 2nd, Sat.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn