Xo'bkichui ki becakena-সবকিছুই কি বেচাকেনা

 
সবকিছুই কি বেচাকেনা?
.
বৃদ্ধের কাছে এসেছো, 
আশার অপেক্ষায়?
এদিকে তো আশা আমার 
লোপ হয়েছে প্রায়।
.
সবকিছুই হচ্ছে শেষে 
ব্যবসা করার উপায়।  
বাকি যেনো এলেবেলে—
সরিয়ে দেওয়া যায়। 
.
ব্যবসা আবার কি কারণে? 
ধনের জোগাড়, ভাই।  
এটার জন্য, আরো কিন্তু 
অনেক কিছু চাই।
.
চাই চাহিদা, খোলাবাজার, 
কেনাকাটার শখ।
তা না হলে, ব্যবসা কোথায়—
খাঁটি হোক বা ঠক?
.
সস্তা তেল আর কয়লা, ধাতু,
সস্তা বিজলী, জমি,
সস্তা শ্রমিক—এ না হলে, 
হবে কি কেউ ধনী?
.
ও হ্যাঁ। জমির দামটা যদি বাড়ে,
তাতেও ব্যবসা হয়।
লোকের স্রোতে, জমির দামে
হচ্ছে কবে ক্ষয়?
.
অন্য উপায়? সব-ই শেষে
খাজনা-সুদের জোরে।
দুটোই তো ভাই গুন্ডা-ডাকাত
দলের সৃষ্টি, ওরে!
.
ঋণ আর ভাড়ার নেওয়া দেওয়া— 
এতেই জগত চলে।
জগন্নাথের রথের টানা,
বন্দী জীবের বলে।
.
শ্রমিক, সৈনিক পাচ্ছে বেতন, 
খাটছে, লড়ছে তাই। 
হোক বা না হোক চাষটা সফল, 
খাজনা, সুদ তো চাই।
.
শক্তির, ধনের সিঁড়ি আছে, 
খাজনার, সুদের ধাপ।
সৃষ্টিকর্তার আইন, নাকি—
মানুষ জাতির পাপ? 
.
******

.
বড়লোকদের দোষ দিও না। 
দোষ তো প্রতি জনে।
অনেক রকম ব্যামো আছে, 
মানুষ জাতির মনে।
.
তবে সবচেয়ে বড় ব্যারাম, 
শক্তিধরের লোভ।
‘সম্পত্তি’ আর ‘আমার, তোমার’—
এতেই যত ক্ষোভ।
.
মানুষ জাতি স্বাধীন ছিলো—
যেমন চড়ুই শালিক।
জমির ফাঁদে পড়লো খাঁচায়।
ডাকাত হলো মালিক।
.
রাজা-গজার কাল চুকেছে।
ধনিক, পরম পতি।
প্রগতির এই যুগে, দেখো 
উন্নয়নের গতি।
.
মানুষ জাতি খুব-ই চতুর!  
দেখবে, দেশে দেশে,
উদ্যোগ আর বাণিজ্যের বানে, 
শুদ্ধি গেছে ভেসে।
.
সবকিছুই তো বেচাকেনা। 
পুরুষ, স্ত্রী ও তাই। 
মানুষ-দেবের সৃষ্টি এটা। 
কি আর করা, ভাই?
.
এমনি ভেবে, হাল ছেড়ো না, 
পোদ্দার যতই হাসে।
খাঁটি জিনিস, মায়ের দয়ায়, 
বিনা টাকায় আসে।
.
খালি হাতে এসেছিলে,
যাবেও খালি হাতে।
দুঃখ, খুশি—দুটোই খাবে, 
যেটাই পাবে পাতে।
.
চেষ্টা ক'রো। ভয় পেয়ো না। 
মধু, তেতো চেখো।
যেটাই আসে জীবন পথে, 
সেটার থেকে শেখো।
.
জয় বিজয় তো আসবে যাবে।
চলবে জীবন লীলা।
বিমল রেখো মনটা শুধু, 
খেলছো যখন ক্রীড়া।
.
******

.
ধন উপার্জন? করবো না, ভাই, 
এই ব্যাপারে মানা।
সংসারে যে বাঁচতে হবে,
তা তো সবাইর জানা।
.
কিন্তু এটা হয় না যেনো
মাতলামি বা নেশা।
কামের নেশা অনেক ভালো।
তাও কি কারোর পেশা?
.
হ্যাঁ হ্যাঁ, জানি। সেটাও আছে।
উদাহরণ বাজে!
প্রত্যেকের-ই নেশা আছে—
মালে হোক বা কাজে।
.
মানুষ জাতির এটাই আকার।
হয়তো সেটাই ভালো।
কিন্তু, একটা নেশার চোটে, 
নিভছে বাকি আলো।
.
নিভছে আশার আলো, তবে
বইছে আগুন-ঝড়।
মুখ ফুটে তা বললে, ওরে, 
পড়বে মুখে চড়।
.
খিদায়, বোমায় মরছে যত, 
ততোই বড়াই, ঠকের। 
দুঃখ, ব্যথা বাড়ছে যত, 
ততই চড়াই, স্টকের।
.
এসব বুঝেও হাল ছেড়ো না,
দুঃখে যেও না ঝুঁকে।
দয়া, কৃপা স্মরণ করে, 
আশা রেখো বুকে।
.
প্রতি জীবে শয়তান আছে, 
প্রতি জীবে সন্ত।
দুঃখ, ক্লেশের ঢেউয়ের নিচে,  
বইছে সুখ অনন্ত।
.
মরন-শোকে, মুক্তির খোঁজে, 
যেও না মক্কা-কাশি। 
নিজের গাঁয়ে, খুঁজলে পাবে 
ছোট্ট শিশুর হাসি।
.
কারখানা আর গঁজের চাকায়, 
মরছে রাশি রাশি। 
তাও তো দূরে ডাকছে, শোনো, 
সেই রাখালের বাঁশি।
.
শনিবার, ২১ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৯ খ্রি 
ব্রুক্লিন, নিউ ইয়র্ক

O Amar-ও আমার

 
ও আমার    

ও আমার দেশের মাটি, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব দেশের-ই মাটি আমার, 
তবুও আমার নয়।

মাটি কারোর নয়।

ও আমার দেশের পানি, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব দেশের-ই পানি আমার, 
যদিও আমার নয়।

পানি কারোর নয়। 

ও আমার দেশের হাওয়া, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব দেশের-ই হাওয়া সবাইর,  
তবুও কারোর নয়। 

কিছুই কারোর নয়।

******

ও আমার ঘর-পরিবার, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব পরিবার আমার, তবে 
কেউই আমার নয়।

মানুষ কারোর নয়। 

ও আমার জীবন স্মৃতি, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব যুগের-ই স্মৃতি আমার, 
যদিও আমার নয়। 

স্মৃতি কারোর নয়।

ও আমার চিত্ত খানি, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সবার চিত্ত সবাইর,  তবে 
চিত্ত কারোর নয়। 

কিছুই কারোর নয়।

****** 

ও আমাদের জগৎ খানি, 
আমার মনে হয় 
সব কিছুই সবাইর, তবে 
কিছুই কারোর নয়।  

কিছুই কারোর নয়।

মঙ্গলবার, ৯ জুলাই, ২০১৯ খ্রি 
ব্রুক্লিন,  নিউ ইয়র্ক

Silence-II

 Silence-II

There are things that can be measured—
Or proved by dint of logic.
There are others that are real,
Yet dismisssed as faith or magic.

And such a thing is silence—
The silence of  the soul,
The quiet that is healing—
That makes what’s sundered whole.

******

How blessed is the silence—
If even for a while,
We hear again the softer sounds
That cause us then to smile.

So when the war has ended
And bombs have ceased to fall,
With cannons fallen silent,
The sigh is heard by all.

In the bustle of the city,
In a park, we see the sky
And hear the leaves that rustle—
And then we breathe and sigh.

But most of us have chatter
That’s there, within our heads.
We hear it in the quiet 
As we lie upon our beds.

And so we fear the silence
And fill our lives with sounds.
So music too resembles
The firing out of rounds.

 We fill our lives with actions.
 We cannot sit at ease.
 Our minds are filled with conflicts—
 So how can there be peace?

And some have silenced conscience.
They cannot hear it speak.
Its voice is drowned by clamor.
Who then defends the weak?

Our eyes are filled with nonsense.
Our ears are filled with lies.
We are sold our wars and gizmos.
What chance, for being wise?

Our lives are isolated.
We’re frightened by the quiet.
As many still go hungry,
We wonder, “Should we diet?”

And yet there’s peace in silence.
It blesses, soothes and heals.
So I should stop my natter
To learn how silence feels.

******

I learned it well in childhood.
I cherished it in youth.
I barely now remember—
And would relearn that truth.

The silence that's in Nature
Is there within a jail.
It's harder there to find it,
So inmates often fail.

When found, it is a treasure—
A gift that comes as grace.
You can hear it in a cadence,
You can see it in a face.

It is there in tribals, peasants.
It is rarer in the towns.
It is rarer still in nations
That are ruled by thieves and clowns.

Yet silence is a blessing
That is always there for all.
It is present in the winter—
And the summer, spring and fall.

You can sense it in the noontime,
In the dawn and in the dusk.
You can scent it in the morning—
And the evening, in the musk.

It is there in plains and valleys,
And in mountains rising high.
You can see it in the river
And the ocean and the sky.

It is there in field and forest,
And in villages and cities.
It is there, where someone suffers
Whom no one helps or pities.

It is there and gives us comfort.
It is there and makes us wise.
It is there, when truth is shredded
And is then replaced by lies.

Is it there, when some are screaming
As they burn and die in wars?
Is it there in mines and factories,
And in places wracked by cars?

******

I wish that I could say so,
With evidence to show.
I only have this insight
And that is all I know.

When we’ve fulfilled our duties
As best as we are able,
We might enjoy that silence
That some declare a fable.

 2019 June 8th Sat.  
 Brooklyn, New York
  

Our Turn

Our Turn

There is right and there's wrong—and then there's the dollar.
It comes with a leash and it comes with a collar.
It comes with a biscuit and a ride on the ark,
And when bidden, we'll bite and when bidden we'll bark—
But not at our Master.  We're fed by his hand.
His kicks, we will take, as you all understand.

We can smile and spin.  We can twist and shout—
But the truth, in the end, will always out.
It might take a year or a thousand more,
And there isn't a god who is keeping score,
But we know in our hearts that the truth is this—
We quaked and we crapped at the Serpent's hiss.

For the sake of the silver, as Judas had done,
We sold out our honor, and the Devil has won.
When our Master decrees that a nation should fry,
Then who has the gumption to stand and defy?
But in time we will see, when it comes to our turn,
That the Devil will laugh, as he watches us burn.

2019 April 25th, Thursday
D train from Manhattan to Brooklyn
   

Nation States

Nation States

A country, like a town or province, is
a thing we humans make to fill our needs.
The things we cannot do by just ourselves,
we let the city, province, country do.
Towards these tasks, we pay our taxes and
elect the folk who manage these for us.

So it should be, in sober viewing, yet
we have exalted this and have imbued
a country with the qualities we once
reserved for deities—or kings who claimed
to be appointed by divine decree.

How foolish that appears, and yet we see
our politicians thumping on their chests
and seeking to be kings—and pouring scorn
on anyone who seeks to question this,
as hails and fists are raised for hero-kings.

If these were only carnivals, we then
could simply shrug, as some of us may do
at other spectacles—like all the games
where sport and commerce vulgarly combine.

But hatred, bigotry and all that flows
from human vices—these are tapped, released.
And violence follows swiftly, mounting more
as lies are spread and can’t be questioned, so
we see a spiral that descends to hell.

******

The nation states are birthed and bred in blood,
as empires are—and mass religions too.
And this is so in almost every case—
as each “exception” shows, when opened up.

And yet we yield to tribal impulses
and swear allegiance to a flag and state,
as soldiers march to beating drums, saluting
those who send them out to slay and die.

So also, lines are drawn that may divide
a province or a city.  Families flee,
as sorrow turns to anger, then to hate—
and neighbor turns on neighbor in revenge.

What started this and what sustains it still?
At base: survival; economics; those
who strive for power; vice; and ignorance.
One could say more, but let this here suffice.

******

When a person’s life is threatened, then
the person acts and so defends the self.
When he or she is verbally abused,
mistreated or exploited, then again
the “I” awakes and reasserts the self.

And so it often is with nations—these
arise as concepts when oppression reigns
that victimizes humans based on things
that they are born with or acquire in youth—
the marks of races, cultures, which they then
perceive as common and as threatened, so
they band together to defend themselves.

But then in turn, if people then succeed
in overturning orders, so that they
are now within the group that reigns, they then
may often push yet others to despair—
and so another nationhood is born.

And that’s a story that’s repeated, though
it’s hardly all there is to nation-states.
For that, you’ll have to read the books, because
the things we've written here are just a sketch.

So you can read of Europe's wars of sects
that lasted centuries, what issued thence—
and more, to puzzle out yourself the curse
that makes us battle those who're much like us.

******

We humans seek some others, whom we blame
for all the problems that we humans face.
By doing this, we shift the blame and then
rejoice in meting out the punishment.

So all our baser urges then are vented,
as we “unite” against this “proven enemy”.

And knowing human nature, those who strive
for wealth and power utilize these things,
as idiots gather in their mobs and rage
and wars break out—in this and every age.

So also, wealth and power, threatened, seek
deflection of the threats.  A foe is found,
perennial or new, that then distracts
the lumpen masses and obscures the truth.

******

The love of the land and people of one’s birth
or domicile is natural.  Love is good—
and even better when it is informed,
so knowledge and compassion both are guides.

But blind obedience and belief can lead,
like willful ignorance, to all that’s cursed—
and these together breed the troops that greed
and zealotry require to do their work.

Ambition in a man or woman is
at times a good thing.  Often, it is not—
for those of great ambition tend to climb
on others as they drive yet others on,
not heeding all the harm that hubris brings.

******

The tribal folk knew well their tribes, but we
belong to nations that we do not know,
because they were created recently
or are too large for us to know with ease.

Let’s get to know the country where we live—
the land, the peoples and the histories—
for we will find there’s more than one of each.

Let’s learn the names of places, plants and beasts
and speak the tongues in which the people speak.

Let’s sit with common folk and share their food,
the joys and woes that beings always have—
and let us do this, not for just a part
or portion of the land and people, but
as great a fraction as our lives permit.

And if indeed we truly do these things,
we then will surely find there’s much to like—
and also things we might be leery of.

And so it always is, with everything.
 
******

And if we do this, we will find the lines
that mark the borders—those are meaningless,
for genes and cultures both have flowed across,
as tends to happen when we humans meet.

And so within us are the genes of those
we’re told to view as foes—as enemies.
And in our tongues we find the words as well
that made the journeys over distances.

And so in food and music, so in clothes
and so in arts and crafts and sciences.

So does this mean that passports, visas will
now disappear, along with fences and
the armies and the wars that nations wage?

If it only it were so!  But yes—in time.

The cities of a country do not war,
and neither do its provinces—and so
in time the humans of the world will see
a country is the place they chance to be.

******

A city may have quarters, if it’s old—
or even new, where different settlers live.
This should not mean that people do not mix
and over time create such citizens
as view the city as their quarter true.

What mayhem there could be, if one declared,
“Brooklyn is for A’s, Manhattan B’s,
the Bronx and Queens and Staten Island—they’re
reserved for C’s and D’s and E’s.”

Yet that’s the basis for the “ethnic state”—
the worst thing that a nation-state can be.

******

Beware the empire in its red advance.
Beware its reign, with even more of blood—
and know that blood will flow at its collapse.

Resist the empires. These have drained the lands.
But do desist from building blinding walls.

Beware the madness of the nation state
that takes a fiction and creates a tribe—
and even more, beware the state that marks
the “self” and “other” with the stamp of tribe.

Let's love our countries as we do the earth,
but know we share the overarching sky
that sees us insects crawling down below
and claiming this or that as theirs, as if
we ants could own it, through our ignorance.

There is no virtue that a nation owns.
There is no vice that only is a tribe’s.

We’d see the blood on every nation’s hands,
if only we could read the histories
that lie unwritten by the ones who died.

2019, April 6, Sat. 
Brooklyn, New York
  

Numbered

Numbers, essential as they are, seem to have taken over our lives. 

Even our seers have to watch their watches—currently perhaps the digital ones on their smart phones.  Time is money and money is all. 

This view might have first gained currency in England, during its industrial revolution, but in the centuries since then it has spread to every country.  Those who do not live by it swim against the tide.  One might as well be in denial of gravity.

Monetary values are attached to most things, including living things.  Even human lives have actuarial values.  It is the same with activities and occupations.  Those with lower monetary worth are devalued. 
 
Finance and economics had naturally been born from numbers.  Humans, corporations and entire nations are ranked and described by these.  

The physical sciences, engineering and technology have of course been based on measurements and calculations.  But now, even medical science increasingly rests on measured numbers.  

More generally, anything that cannot be measured and so cannot have numbers affixed to it is is disregarded or dismissed.  Such things are viewed as inconsequential and are even rendered invisible.

The revolution in information processing and communication has of course been a digital one, based on numbers, most commonly in their most basic, binary forms.  This has made us even more dependent on numbers and even more enslaved through them—and seemingly to them. 

We are now routinely identified by our numbers, and those with power over us, including financial institutions and governments, literally have our numbers. 

Here are some metrical reflections on this phenomenon. 
---------------------------------------------------

Numbered 

From yes and no and repetition rise
Our newest wonders and our newest lies.
And streams of these, that merge at logic-gates,
Predict our futures and decide our fates.

From one and zero, is the world construed—
With all its shades and subtleties imbued?
Or are these primal numbers mere devices
With which to breed yet more of human vices?

We look around the world we’ve made and see
That Number is indeed a deity.
We count our money and we strive for more.
In learning, as in soccer, there’s a score.

We rank the players and the jobs we do
And happiness has now its index too.
A war is gauged by tonnage dropped and deaths—
And driven by the “windfalls” that it nets.

And money is of course the number that
Knocks all the other jousting numbers flat.
So income, wealth and GDP and more
Are numbers at the center and the fore.

******

But “wealth and power” are the twins conjoined
(And so that phrase in earlier times was coined),
And what is power if it lacks in force?
So arms and numbers never seek divorce.

Investments, in a war or in the land,
Are things that lords and bankers understand,
But now this Understanding Old has spread
And been, with Streaming Digits, duly wed.

There’s number, number, number everywhere.
It rules—and runs through ocean, land and air.
Our bodies and our minds have been reduced
To numbers that are measured or deduced.

The doctors now consults the oracles
That know our numbers.  Seeming miracles
Are wrought by robots that can operate.
Our numbers get the job and find the mate.

In science based on mathematics, counts
Are needed—and, in finance, the amounts
Are all that matters.  All our new machines
Subsist on numbers—though behind the scenes.

******

But can sensation and perception be
Devolved to measures of a quantity?
And are the qualities that we perceive
No more than mere constructions that deceive?

Are colors such as reds and greens and blues
No more than wavelengths that we see as hues
Or oscillations in a neural field—
And not the qualities these pulses yield?

Can all the vortices of our affairs
Be mapped, like those of galaxies, in stairs
Ascending and descending, on a scale
That has in it a point that is a whale?

Who dares to pause, within the lines of labor,
Will find, bestowed upon her head, no favor
From overseers—or even from her peers—
For pausing lowers numbers, raises fears.

And pausing might permit reflection, thought
Among the ones in mills and numbers caught.
And thought, that wonders why the numbers reign,
May question things we’d rather not explain.

*****

Could numbers be as blinkers to our visions
That force us to be focused on the missions
To which we each have duly been assigned—
The tasks to which, like asses, we're resigned?

For fears, desires there may be measures, yet
Are loves and duties fishes in the net?
Are there dimensions that are qualities
That can’t be reached by measured quantities?

We each need meanings in the lives we live.
What meaning can a mark that’s measured give?
To ask such questions is to be a fool.
We’ve made a word in which the numbers rule.

We’ve been conditioned by our jobs and schools
To follow orders and to follow rules—
And one of these is to always strive for worth
In grades and cash—until returned to earth.

The numbers certainly have uses, friends,
But numbers surely cannot be our ends.
Let numbers be our tools and weapons, braves!
But let's not be, to all these numbers, slaves.

2019, March 29th, Friday 
Brooklyn, New York

A~dhar alo-আঁধার আলো

আঁধার আলো

শীতল রাতের চাঁদের আলোয়, 
দুপুর বেলার রোদ।
বুকে যেমন দয়া আছে, 
তেমনি আছে ক্রোধ।
 
জাহান্নম আর নরক থেকে, 
স্বর্গের হাওয়া আসে। 
সভ্যতা আর বর্বরতা 
চলছে পাশে পাশে।
 
সব ধর্মে খারাপ আছে, 
সব ধর্মে ভালো। 
একদিকে, সেই অন্ধকার।
আরেক দিকে আলো।
 
প্রতি দেশে পাবে খুঁজে 
কত খাঁটি গুণী। 
সেই দেশেরই ইতিহাসে, 
রক্ত, খুনাখুনি।
 
পরী ফেরেশতা আছে বসে,  
সব মানুষের বুকে। 
তারি পাশে রাক্ষস আছে, 
হিংসের ওপর ঝুঁকে।
 
রবিবার, ১০ মার্চ, ২০১৯ খ্রি 
ব্রুক্লিন, নিউ ইয়র্ক

Reasons Why

In several ways, this must be one of the worst (or at least strangest) poems I have ever written.  But please read it to the end, if you are able.
.
The format may be distracting, but the content is even more disturbing.  That disturbance may be needed, however, to see our way out from a trap of our own making. 
------------------------------------------------
.

.
Reasons Why 
.
In places far, the soldiers die,
And what can kinsfolk do but cry?
When more are sent to kill and die,
Who dares to ask for reasons why?
.
The soldiers are trained to just comply
And not to ask for reasons why.
And so we send them out to die—
Too often, to support a lie.
.
So Nation A and Nation B
Send humans out, like you and me,
Who could be friends—except, you see,
They think they’re serving A and B.
.
But is that sacrifice deserved
By those, whose wealth is well-preserved--
The ones, by ardent soldiers served
Or those, for "martyrdom", reserved?
.
******
.
They meet, those dons from A and B—
The ones who rule both you and me
And soldiers too. But can’t you see?
They’re using those like you and me.
.
They sit and chat and laugh and drink,
As humans should. And then they wink
And make their deals that link, unlink
The fates of those who’ve ceased to think.
.
In every nation, it’s the same.
Another nation gets the blame—
Along with those, who’re set to shame
And silenced—those against this game.
.
And so we are distracted and
We fail to see and understand.
The years go by like flowing sand
And soldiers still are in demand.
.
******
.
If only those, who don their suits
And walk on marbled floors, wore boots
And then were sent in those pursuits
That soldiers are—we’d see the fruits!
.
Then wars might cease—and peace prevail.
We might be rid of this travail.
But still—we do not see, and hail
The one that hammers in the nail.
.
And so we each are crucified—
And soldiers most, who’re deified,
But only when they’ve glorified
This game. We should be mortified.
.
A soldier dies a “glorious death”
And so the need for more is met,
As others join the ranks and get
Their meager pay—and pain and death.
.
******
.
Without the film-crew, where’s the star?
Without the worker, where’s the car?.
Without the soldier, where’s the war?
Till robots rise, that’s where we are.
.
When soldiers die, we do not care—
Except when lights and sirens blare.
And then it’s far too much to bear.
We seek revenge as our rightful fare.
.
A soldier is portrayed as brave.
In truth, he’s molded to a slave—
Too often, bowing to a knave.
Obedience is what rulers crave.
.
The one religious wakes and prays.
The one who isn’t marks his days.
But neither stops to see the grays.
The order comes—and he obeys.
.
******
.
But who’s he shooting, beating? Ask!
And should he question then the task?
“It doesn’t matter! Don the mask
And like a robot do the task!”
.
And so we all are robotized.
This quality is highly prized.
We might, as humans, be disguised.
Our freedom, though, has been excised.
.
What freedom is left for an employee?
A slave to a wage, she will always be.
And that's how it is for you and me
In the land of the brave and the home of the free.
.
And that's how it is, in every land—
In nations small and in nations grand.
It's been this way since we've tilled the land—
As our lords and masters understand.
.
******
.
Our work is measured by their gauges.
So soldiers earn, with gore, their wages.
Mammon’s clerks have scribed the pages.
The cage is sealed. The battle rages.
.
So dogs and roosters fight and shred
Opponents. Floors are smeared with red.
With blood, the blood-lust must be fed.
The cheers resound, when one lies dead.
.
We count our wins and bear our losses.
We carry, each of us, our crosses.
We catch the ball the captain tosses
And run with it. We bow to bosses.
.
So soldiers too must daily do.
They’re humans, just like me and you.
They're trained to pull that chariot too—
That juggernaut of this circus-zoo.
.
******
.
So many soldiers take their lives
And leave behind their parents, wives
And children too. Our love revives
When bombs explode and none survives.
.
They died together, blasted, burned.
The wages that their service earned
Have ceased. Will widows’ pleas be spurned
For pensions—or for lessons learned?
.
The funds and arms for death were sent
By those, on wreaking mayhem, bent.
A superpower long had lent
What’s needed, taking lives as rent.
.
But why? Go ask of Mammon and
Of Satan. They’ve had motives grand
And petty. But the fronts are manned
By those who must not understand.
.
******
.
A nearby nation once had burned
And tactics practiced there were turned
To uses here, by those who’d learned
To murder, maim—for credits earned.
.
Such schools exist, for ardent sons,
Who there are trained, perhaps with guns—
Or else without—for they’re the ones
Whose bodies burst like searing suns.
.
They don’t have planes and missiles, so
They use their feet, however slow,
And going where they’re told to go,
They then deliver there the blow.
.
So soldiers once again will die
And others too. The limbs will fly.
The bodies, torn and charred, will lie.
And who will ask for reasons why?
.
******
.
So thousand-pounders do as well.
They turn a town into a hell.
But who is there to see and tell?
Those stories aren’t fit to sell.
.
When suicide bombers kill a score,
It’s a heinous crime like none before.
When missiles daily kill far more,
That’s war—and who is keeping score?
.
The bombers circle once again
And drop their bombs like falling rain.
And beings burn and cry in pain,
But Terror doesn’t fly a plane—
.
Except that once—that we remember—
On an autumn morning in September,
When our homeland too received an ember
Of the fires we’ve set—that some remember.
.
******
.
And soldiers shoot civilians too,
Who aren’t armed—and I and you
May hear at times of one or two,
As armies do what armies do.
.
A thousand pellets, flying fast!
The boy had ducked. They speeded past.
The girl could not.  She sees her last.
And so the daily die is cast.
.
So many children, walking blind!
The captain says we should not mind.
A better means is hard to find.
Our use of pellets shows we’re kind.
.
And still, we see the flying stone
That flung with force can break the bone.
That’s all he has. For that alone,
The thrower may, for long, atone.
.
******
.
These bullets now—as you can tell--
Are ones the pelters know too well.
They pulverize the bones. They sell
Because they make, of life, a hell.
.
But this again is seen as kind
Or justified. We should not mind.
In every nation, some will find
That “kindness” has been redefined.
.
Seventy thousand listed dead.
A street that’s often bathed in red.
The youths are now, by zealots, led.
The ones, who reasoned, long are dead.
.
That demon that is Blind Religion—
That plague that’s ravaged every region—
Has mounted now on that of Nation 
And whips us on towards damnation.
.
******
.
But Faith and Nation need their stash,
So see—how deep they bow to Cash! .
And lo—it turns this world to trash,
And all that’s precious, serves to smash.
.
And so the spiral turns and turns.
The children cry. The village burns.
The vultures wait. And what returns
Is ash, perhaps, in plastic urns.
.
A thousand miles. The widow weeps.
A little bit of ash, she keeps.
But where he served, another leaps.
The Reaper, yet another reaps.
.
How many humans more will die?
How many orphans more will cry?
How many bullets more will fly?
And who will pause to question why?
.
******
.
A story has its bends and twists.
Their weapons could be arms and fists,
But all we’ll ever see are lists
In which the slain are terrorists.
.
That woman and that child as well?
Those aren’t things on which we dwell.
There’s no one with a voice to tell
“They’ve turned our home into a hell.”
.
But where is “home” and who are “they”?
That home’s unseen and far away.
Who orders this? I cannot say.
But soldiers listen and obey.
.
It could be at a barbed-wire border.
It could be for the sake of order.
It could be by the forest’s border.
But soldiers must obey the order.
.
******
.
A girl is slain. Her parents sigh.
But should her siblings only cry?
So tens of thousands more will die.
And who will ask for reasons why?
.
2019 February 19th, Tue.
Brooklyn, New York
.  

The Lord of Deception

The Lord of Deception 

How many the flags, how many the songs!
How often the nations have hidden their wrongs
And pointed to those of the others, as flags
Were raised to the skies, with salutes and with songs!

There’s a chord within humans that is struck by these things,
So our eyes—they may water as the lead singer sings
And the words of the anthem and the fluttering flag—
They can lift up our hearts as our spirits find wings.

There’s a music that's martial that is truly an art—
With the swirl of the pipes, and the drums at the heart.
It can set our hearts pounding, as schoolchildren race
To see all the marchers, before they depart.

If only the virtues of citizens could
Be uplifted by flags and by songs as they should,
We might smile at these follies and not weep at the thought
Of the evils our Master has sold us as good.

******

The sister, she suffers; the brother, he dies.
The widow remembers her husband and sighs.
The orphans, they weep for the parents they lost,
As nations and empires are built upon lies.

Oh love, with your being, your land and your clan!
Be strong, like a woman!  Be brave, like a man!
Be a seeker of truth and a giver of love,
But turn from deception, as much as you can!

The truth is not simple—and yet it is true.
It’s waiting for me and it’s waiting for you.
Uncover the truth and discover its layers.
What’s right, by your heart and your reason, then do.

You aren’t a label—a religion or state.
Be mindful and turn from the madness of hate.
We were born from the stars that are burning on high,
But it’s we who are turning to decide on our fate.

******

Let us turn towards reason, let us turn towards love.
Let’s release, from its prison, that captive—the dove.
With peace in our hearts, let us see that our fates—
They are chosen by humans, not the stars up above.

How many, the hours that a parent has labored
For the children, with whom they in youth had been favored!
How hopeless, the feeling, at the death of a child,
Whose life, in its fullness, will never be savored!

How many—the parents, who have toiled and have grieved!
As the fruit of their labors, what have they received?
How many, the soldiers and others who’ve died—
By the slogans of empires and nations deceived!

Let the death of a friend and the death of a foe
Be equal—in that there should never be more
That are needlessly caused by the madness of sin
And the lies that are layered on the lying before.

******

Let nations and empires be things of the past.
Let us turn to our essence, from madness, at last.
The roar of the mill and the din of the war—
They’re the voice of the One, who from heaven was cast.

And here, on this planet, He’s been telling His lies.
For each that believes Him, another one dies.
He’s the Lord of Deception—and the flags and the songs
He has turned to His use—as we perish like flies.

And the sins we’ve committed, with falsehoods in mind,
Ensure that we’re damned—and with death we will find
We are trapped in the hell that we made for the others—
That they might have escaped, if we’d thought to be kind.

His name?  It is Mammon.  But His faces are many.
He is inked on the note and He’s scribed on the penny.
We march to His orders, not knowing they’re His.
If we beg Him for truth—He never has any.

******

The Lord of Deception?  A title, a name—
A way of describing the source of our shame, 
A personification, like Mammon, of all
That has led to this hell that is played like a game.
 
Our Master?  Our masters—for there isn't just one—
They are making us play at this game that they've won
Again and again, and will win, till we see
That we lose even more, the harder we run.

The nation?  A deity, not fashioned from clay,
But rather from that which is current today—
From symbols like flags, and with borders on maps, 
And armies—and taxes for funding the play.

But it's Mammon that's driving the engines of war
And is making us less than the beings we are.
So bow not to Mammon or others on high!
It's love, and not hate, that will carry us far.

2019 February 5th, Tue. &16th, Sat. 
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York  
  

Bidae Khali Hate-বিদায় খালি হাতে

     
বিদায় খালি হাতে  

এসেছিলাম ল্যাংটো হয়ে। 
পরেছি কত বেশ। 
কিছুদিনে বিদায় নেব। 
জীবন হবে শেষ।

দেখেছি কত, শুনেছি কত, 
ভেবেছি কত কিছু। 
শিখেছি কত, ভুলেছি কত, 
খেটেছি কত মিছু।

লোকের মধ্যে কত শ্রেণী, 
কত রকম কাজ। 
একের ভাগ্য, মেথর হওয়া।
আর এক, মহারাজ।

ফুটপাতে, কার ছাতুর বাসন? 
কার, ওই রুপোর থালি? 
কার মগজে বিদ্যে এল?    
কার মাথাটা খালি?

কারোর হাতে তাসের অভাব, 
কেউ তো ছলেই মহান। 
খাটনিতে যা ফল পাওয়া যায়, 
পায় কি সবাই সমান? 

কেউ বা চলে মার্সিডিজে, 
কেউ বা চড়ে বাসে। 
কারোর শয্যা রাজ মহলে, 
কারোর নিদ্রা ঘাসে।

তাও তো সবাই দু পায়ে হাঁটে, 
জীবন মাপে, শ্বাসে। 
প্রথম কথায়, ‘আম্মা’ বলে, 
মায়ের গলায় হাসে।

আহার, জল তো সবারি লাগে, 
যতই বিদ্যে পাতে।
শেষ বেলাতে, বাঁচবে কি কেউ  
ডিগ্রী, ধন বা জাতে?
  
কোথায় ধন আর শিক্ষা তখন? 
কোথায় বিদ্যে বুদ্ধি? 
সারা জীবন খুঁজেও, শেষে 
পেলাম না গো শুদ্ধি।

কোনটা সত্যি, কোনটা মিথ্যে, 
কোনটা ঠিক বা ভুল? 
এসব ছেড়ে, চলো দেখি— 
ভোরের ফোটা ফুল।

প্রথম আলোয়, নতুন করে 
জন্ম নিল দিন। 
জোয়ার ভাটায়, ভাসিয়ে দিল 
গত কালের ঋণ। 

বইল সকাল, গেল দুপুর,
দিনের বেলা কাটে। 
রাতের আসা দেখব চলো, 
গঙ্গা নদীর ঘাটে।

নিজের ভোরে, এসেছিলাম 
নগ্ন বেশে, তাই 
দিনের শেষে, বিদায় নেব 
খালি হাতে, ভাই। 

শনিবার, ২রা আর মঙ্গলবার, ৫ই ফেব্রুয়ারি, ২০১৯ খ্রি 
ব্রুক্লিন, নিউ ইয়র্ক 

  

TCSTI--Transient Cometary Solar Twinning Illusion

On certain rare occasions, metallic dust left behind by a passing comet produces certain reflective effects, creating the illusion of a second sun.  This is called the transient cometary solar twinning illusion, or TCSTI.

Kill What You Eat--and Eat What You Kill

 
  Kill  What You Eat—and Eat What You Kill

  While walking in the park, I met
  an elder—and we talked.
  And what he told me gave me pause—
  and later gave me woe .

“Kill, what you eat, yourself, my friend,”
  the elder said to me.
“Do not depend on others, who
  are slaving, out of sight.

“The food you eat, the clothes you wear,
  your trinkets and your toys—
  attempt to kill or make yourself,
  or know their provenance

“The lights and gadgets in your home
  and where you go to work,
  the vehicles on which you ride,
  the roads on which they run—

“the fuels for these things as well—
  are made for you by others
  and brought to you by others or
  the conduits they have made.

“These actions all rely upon
  the slaughters, small and large,
  of beasts (and even human ones),
  and plants—and things that we

“may think are lifeless, yet have lives,
  although of other sorts—
  the mountains, plains and valleys and
  the oceans, lakes and streams.

“If you would have the hearing, you
  would hear their groans and screams.
  The air, that we are breathing, too,
  has a life that you can feel."

  And spreading out his arms, he then
  inhaled the city's air
  and slowly then exhaled that breath,
  let down his arms and smiled.

“This air we’re breathing, you and I,
  though often breathed before,
  would be as fresh, if not for Man,
  as when the plants had risen.”

  He said these things—and made me think.
  I thought: he must be mad.
  And so I said goodbye and left—
  but could not sleep at night.

“Kill what you eat,” he’d said, “and eat
  whatever you've killed, my friend.”
  as he'd gestured 'round at the earth and the sky
  and the trees and the works of Man.

  Kill what I eat?  Oh, how absurd!
  And eat what I kill?  That’s mad!
  I tried to put this out of my head,
  but I felt his words return.

  And ever since then, I've felt unease
  and even unwell at times.
  As I'd like you to share in my misery, I
  am passing this on in my turn.

  2018 December 29?, Thu?day
  Brooklyn, New York