We are unstoppable when we are in control

Others may or may not know
What we have done
But only we know
What that meant

You have slept through nights
But it took few sleepless ones to do so
For comfort follows struggle


We have all won the fights,
we never fought

He did what he had to
He chose the way he lived
He chose the way he didn't have to live

Then a man
Now a lamp

Bapu.

It's Gandhi Jayanti
Let's be better

HAPPY GANDHI JAYANTI.

An attorney at law, honest, with plenty of self- respect, today was born.

Tried he to assure all his countrymen would get cothes, water n corn.

But his main aim was to drive away the Brits n to Mother India, a free status adorn

Picked he, "Satya-Ahimsa" to achieve it; but she was often ripped off n torn;

In spite of the many difficulties, Gandhiji got her Independence; that he had, for Her sworn

His three piece suit he gave up; thereafter only a dhoti he had worn.

Thanks to the sacrifices of many many "senanis", on  15th Aug we saw, an independent morn.

Armin Dutia Motashaw

my kindness has now been commodified
whereas before it triggered hate
--seen as weakness, as cruelty's plaything--
still, i saturate to what extent i can
my daily happy-dance with honest friendship,
compassion's ease, delight and pet-store equipoise.
yet my sincerity is sloganed, emptied of its worth:
trained to say 'rewards program' in stead of 'membership, account';
'guests' in stead of 'customers'
'team-players' in stead of 'employees'
'long-term relationships' as first and foremost mission statement's goal--
slither-scripted to promote a highest bottom line
as language euphemizes baby mice as 'pinkies,
fuzzies, hoppers': 'feeders' for a petted multitude
of scaly, fang-ed maws.

pre-thanksgiving christmas-trees
on either side of automatic double-doors--
styro-snowflakes hung
by wrapping-papered end-cap shelves on sale
to swipe our plastics to a higher debt--
to tinsel out the shame of maybe giving less?
reminding 'gift-time soon' and 'this could be a gift'
to ward off never having given childhood its due?
or of being less than cheerful
at incessant jingled tunes?

november fifth--decorations up;
guy fawkes night of trick-or-treater-candies
tweeting hallowed flu-shots
as my manager in elf-cap-antlers squeals in glee:
says she starts promoting christmas back in august.
i tell her that's appropriate!
given jesus was perhaps born in august.
says she didn't memorize the bible.
i tell her that part was left out anyway--
i don't mention the holiday's titular meaning;
or the waiting gnostic manger,
royal transhistoric camels,
mary on her donkey, joseph's wind-blown face
las posadas... the loneliness of exile
O mary... in her starlit tears of unknown pain and joy--
the unremitting love for barnfloor bodyheat,
todos santos
nonhominin humanity...
earthling rights day
a stranger's kindnesses
of yule-tide warmth and evergreen,
solstice-fulcrum festivals of lights
veteran's day's existential loss
and bureaucratic selfhoods shelved;
gurpurb at a gurdwara
the martyrdom of guru tegh bahadur
the garifuna settlement day
the tazaungdaing festival
fasting over christian as well as buddhist lent
the five days of deepawali, diwali:
bodhi day
découverte d'haïti and vertières
jamhuri day
chalica
zamenhof day
sadeh
pancha ganapati
malkh
soyal
mithras day
osiris, adonis and dionysus day (all dec. 25th)
humanlight
--republic day! national day! and proclamation day!
in the maldives, brazil, northern cyprus, chad, yugoslavia;
in the central african republic, burkina faso, kenya, malta, kazakhstan, niger, south sudan...
chahrshanbeh soori
modraniht
the dongzhì festival
the saturnalia of pagans (lit. "country dwellers"; "those of the heath")
dies natalis solis invicti
newtonmas
kwanzaa
watch night
hanukkah
boxing day
malanka
the day of goodwill
wren's day
quaid-e-azam's day
yeni il
guru govind singh jayanti
international solidarity day of azerbaijanis
fête du vodoun
hogmanay
Iemanjá
darwin day
milad-un-nabi
lohri
pesach
chocolate-egg-laying fertile-bunny-day-- or ishtar day
butter week, crepe week, or cheesefare week-- or maslenitsa

Stranger was here
Started just as a hobby
Soon it became
as an addiction
to enter poet's lobby
Some wrote on love
Some on food joy
Some on weather bands
While others on fashion lands
Some on healthy habits
While other on conflicts
some on golden dreams
Many on my day to day scenes
Some on women issues
Other on insane facts
Recalling immense affection
when I look back to my acts
Some appreciated me beyond
my calibre & heights
In hindi readers
Shaina Bhatti, Shruti Dadhich
Kanishka and Jayanti Khare
Are always acive
With enthusiasm & strong will
In english readers
CJ, Fawn and Perry
Are always active
with love, like and chill
Thank you all
for being with me
throughout this role
Big salute to hello poetry
for giving me plateform
into reaching century goal.

“Erosion of spiritual values… the underlying cause of the crises that the world is facing today.”
Sister Jayanti

           What We Need

To think, have faith in the material,
The physical, corporeal
Is to believe in things of constant change,
Change which will forever be
Subjected to the ups and downs,
The sprout and rot of growth and death…
Is that a thing we really want?
The body that?  Wishes too?
You get the wish - it comes, it’s through.

Can it be the time’s extremes,
Are the result of dreams
That lead to climaxes, calamities,
Crises and catastrophes,
Crossroads, zero hours
When the powers of destruction are at zenith point,
The ‘thing-steered’ nose all out of joint?

Is this the underlying cause
That fills each soul with nausea?
We know we’re in a dreadful pickle.
Stuck in muck of the all-tangible.
What we need is permanence, the meaningful;
The something, one-thing that can never change.
Something to reverse the de- and disarrangement.
Don’t you think so?
I do.

What We Need 2.2.2021 To The Child Mystic II; Circling Round Reality; Our Times,Our Culture II; Circling Round Everything II; Nature Of & In Reality; Arlene Nover Corwin