Rape of a nation

A friend's poem.
The classical title often misleads, yet cannot be ignored.
The subject of the poem is the U.S.A; the american dream.
It took me more than a year, and some fifty odd readings to appreciate this piece.
This poem may just as well not be read. You are better off skipping it, but if you do decide to take it up, you'll be glad you stopped to wonder, coz it's bound to become your ' bliss of solitude'.
Enjoy.

Leda / Nemesis

She was within reach

Now she beckoned

A fantasy comes alive

Tantalizing me to explore

Which I did, with gusto

Every nook and crevice

Sipping nectar amid abundance

She was mine to keep

Then seduction no more

Penetrated, marauded rammed and thrust

Yet lovingly suppliant

Can’t have enough of her

But she seeks my heart

That rests fondly on the shores of 'home'

Where I’ll return one day

Until then the rape goes on, unabated

Wonder what’ll come

Helen or Clytemnestra

London bombing - the 56th victim

When a handful of plain clothes police officers pump five bullets into a man confirmed unarmed, already overpowered, and on the ground, what does it suggest? A dastardly act born out of fear mixed with rage, and in all probability vengeful. Unfortunately, this time it killed an innocent Brazilian who probably fit the bill of being brown skinned and wearing a weather inappropriate attire. This incident is bone chilling because of its implications. God help you if you are a brown skinned male living in London, wearing a jacket in seventy plus degree temperatures, and worst of all if you happen to be carrying a backpack!

Outsourcing to India

I just read an Op/Ed titled " A Passage to India' in The NewYork Times. The author, Suketu Mehta, of Indian origin, expresses concern about the possibility of a reverse exodus among Indian immigrants in the USA. With the economic boom in India and a slump in the job market within the USA, many Americans of Indian origin may have to relocate back to the land of their forefathers for job related reasons.

Outsourcing has finally hit home! If it's going to be hard for Indian Americans to relocate to a land from where they originally came, one can only imagine how uphill it would be for other Americans to have to relocate for similar reasons.

Outsourcing has cost many Americans their livelihoods; the Indian American community is only one among the many; also one with the distinct advantage of relocating to a country which is not quite unfamiliar!

Freedom - in different colors

Driving down the Verrazano Bridge and into the heart of NewYork City

Skies over Brooklyn were a sight to see
A painter gone crazy with a palette full of colors
slashing and twirling with a brush in hand
Saucy little candles drawing streaks of light
As they ran assunder
with no end in sight
4th of July splendour to honor freedom
dear as it was

Driving through the streets of Brooklyn, an immigrant meltpot
Hesidic Jews, Latinos, Pakistanis, Arabs and all
Necks craned upward, lined up against a wall
Rich and poor; old and new
All entranced and affixed, yet nothing to express
Glued to a spot, speechless and breathless
by the overhead show that was!

Then the sirens, and a flashing ambulance rushes past
Following at its heel an array of police cars
The spell is broken; the show is over
People disperse
some coverse
whispering and complaining wanting to return
to the splendour that was

Baghdad 2003

Questions of/for the conscience

Why is the unattainable attractive? Is it attractive because it cannot be had? Would it have been as attractive if it could be had? Would its degree of attractiveness change the moment one had it?

Is it healthy to have regrets? Why do we have regrets? Afterall they were our once-upon-a-time decisions.

Why do friends /lovers grow apart? Is it because they tire each other out, or is it because they've figured each other out?

Why are people attracted to each other? Is it because they are worlds apart, or is it because they take the same part ?

When is it okay to walk away? When not doing so would have catastrophic consequences, or when doing so snips an exchange that may ground you for life?

Where do people hide? Behind someone who's not them, or in actions that may take a lifetime to complete?

What is it to be a friend? Is it to be a silent conscience keeper, or is it to be the vocal mirror holder?