did you know that  the sikh temple
karamsar gurdwara
(in ilford) was built by slaves?
yeah, they were bribed
into coming to england
with hopes of a wife and passport...
they built the ****** thing, they did,
worked for pay of lodgings and
food... then they were sent back to
kashmir... the cement wasn't dry when
it happened...
one man spoke out...
                    so did the sikhs of conscience...
but they said **** about the muslims.
i love it... it's like the white skin of eastern
or northern europe was never intended
to be equal to the likes of colonial *******,
and what the colonial ******* learned:
**** ex **** hoc fecit:
don't worry, you can relearn latin,
just mind the prepositions and the inverse
grammar structures worth a translation.

5 waje hoye ne
Gurdwara sahib betha ha
And ro reha ha
Tere lai ro reh ha

We are stopped for special checks
At TSA and immigration

We are murdered
In our house of worship
Six innocent lives lost
Oak Creek Gurdwara, 2012

Racial slurs hit our hearts:
*******
ISIS
Towel head

Out of fear
We stop wearing our beautiful salwar kameezes, lenghas, saris, and kurta pajamas
In colors and embroidery your clothes could only ever dream of
We take off our crowns you call turbans
And replace them with baseball caps

We think twice about speaking Punjabi,
Our mother tongue,
Around those that don't recognize it

We stop packing our grandma's handmade saag and roti
To school for lunch
And start eating
Processed Lunchables

We separate into two people
Our American selves
And our Punjabi selves
Almost never does anyone meet both

All because
You don't know
The difference
Between a Sikh and a terrorist

Me sach dasa
Kuj likhna nai c chanda
But aj rukea ni ja reha
Jis din da reliance wich dekhea he
Mann bada bechen ** rakhea he
Ohi halat dubara ** rahe
Jis to me apne aap nu kad reha

Tuci bade patle lag rahe c, jiwe kamjor ** gaye howo.

Menu yakeen nai c ** reha ki tuci hi **.
Me seriously rab to dua mang reha c ki ik wari dikh jawe nd tuci dikh gaye. No doubt pehla bi dua krda ha. But us din dua ne kam kita.

Metho control nai c ** reha.
Samj nai c a reha ki kara.
Us din second time me apna hath marea c wall te. Nd mass fatt gea c mere hath da.
Me apni wife nu keha ki gir gea c.
First time udo marea c jado tuci first time roye c. Jis din tuci menu first time call krke bulaya c gurdwara sahib de samne.
Us time hath bach gea c but is time mass fatt gea,

Sorry disturb kita.
Koshish krunga ki dubara kuj na likha.

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