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

It   was a   long,  long  quest
by  the   nation which invented  chess,
to get  a  gold  at   Olympiad.
True,  silver and bronze,
gifted Individuals like Rafiq  and Viji
got in the past,  
but  never  the team gold
till   the  Budapest  Olympiad.
Well, the Olympiad  held  at  Hungary,
the land  of Magyars  and  the  mighty  Polgars,
Lo, arrived    the  young  Indian masters,  men and women
Carrying the  legacy  of  the   Tiger of  Madras
and  the hopes  of  millions of   Indians  and  fans  elsewhere,
Fully  charged,  determined  for deeds  greater,
The   vyuha  of  the  men’s  team   crafted  carefully
by   Srinath, the coach.
Fiery  Gukesh was fielded in the top board
Arjun  played  aggressive  chess  and  
Pragg  played  soli­d  and  attacked  the foe,
as  the  battle-board  demanded
The  team’s   fortunes, strengthened   further
By the  heroics  of  Vidit and  Hari
The   champion chess colts’  majestic  march
boasted  wins  against  rivals, arch
Hungary,  America,  Slovenia
Chess Continents   crumbled  at the
Concentrated  attacks  of the  young  Indian  warriors
Who  tamed  all  and   emerged  victorious
The  young Indian  women’s  team of Kunte,
Matched the talent and  deeds  of  the Indian men
Harika  Dronavalli  at  top  board, drawing and winning,
Assuring   a  solid  support,  with hopes  dawning
Divya  Deshmukh,  the  darling of  the Olympiad
And  the  fearless tigress of  the  team,
Attacked  all-out  in    her  games,
Going for  the **** and  scoring  points at  will.
Vantika  and Vaishali  defended  well,
At times, the inferior  positions  in  their  tables,
Only  to  turn the  tables, at  the right  time,
With their  counter  attacks  and crafty play.
Tania  Sachdev  rendered  solid  support
By her  steady play and steely nerves.
Came  final round, the  young Indian women
Taught  the Azerbaijanis, a  lesson or two over the board
Picked up  the lion’s  share  of points in their hoard
And  in the  process, won  the Olympiad  gold!
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