I’m a Bengali in sombrero
An Indian from Kolkata
I live at a stone’s throw
From where flows the Ganga.

I speak in Bengalee
For me the sweetest language
Like the Ganga flows freely
Has Sanskrit as lineage.

Rice is my staple food
So are dal and fish
A cup of tea is too good
With two biscuits on a dish.

Around me spreads green countryside
Where grows all the foodgrain
Rivers flow wild and wide
Their banks home joy and pain.

I was born and reared in this riparian land
Where soil is tilled in peasants’ sweat
Sparkles in moon the Bay’s white sand
Weaving dreams for many a poet!

I lived in a war zone
Streets filled with razor wire
Nothing much to cling to
Nothing to inspire

On one side was my enemy, and
Filled with angst and hate
I lobbed all sorts of insults
The war would not abate

But one of my neighbors
Suggested that I find
Some forgiveness in my heart
To give me peace of mind

And so I started cleaning
Picked up all my waste
Swept up in all the corners
And found peace at last!

Across the street they saw plain
The white flag I errected
It was a thing that gave them pause
Not what they expected!

They threw trash, and they threw dirt
Upon my sidewalk paved
But i expect that I just swept
And gave a friendly wave!

After a while of this response
They were in retreat!
They could never get a rise!
They knew their hate was beat!

And so together as one
We removed the razor strands
And had a big BLOCK PARTY!
We even had a band!

And so "us" and "them"
Finally became "we"
No more HATE! Isn't that GREAT?!!

*At last we're finally FREE!


"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called Children of God."
Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount


SoulSurvivor aka
Write of Passage aka
Invisible inc

Catherine jarvis

I'm skipping stones across the lake
with my eyes closed
and now I can only see you
in a drunken dream.

I'm searching for the lost song
and the melody I knew
before your eyes had died.

the words I didn't say.
the strings of the lost cords
seated in sorrow, sometimes joy,
lost in tomorrow's rain,
found in a photo alblum.

the thinly stretched cords in 1/4 tones.
the rhythms from your heart beating.

the tender touch of vibrating strings.