Thursday, September 20, 2012

DANCE GENTLY TO THE RAIN’S MAD RHYTHM





When you feel let down by the world’s trechery
When the air is thick with arrant buffoonery
When fools go where mortals refrain
When atomic wars threaten to draw the final curtain.

Dance gently to the rain’s mad rhythm, my friend
Go gently into the rain, don’t hesitate.
Raiiiin oooo raiiiiinnn oooooo! (2)

When anger is on every face and begets new anger
And nobody’s stuffy ears are willing to listen
To an old man playing a guitar and tambourine
Tossed around on silver seas and wastelands.

Dance gently to the rain’s mad rhythm, my friend
Go gently into the rain, don’t hesitate.
Raiiiin oooo raiiiiinnn oooooo! (2)

We are here to make the night last long
Don’t fill our nights with the ghost of hunger
Protest we must if our rights are trampled on
Guns we must face and be prepared for confinement.

Dance gently to the rain’s mad rhythm, my friend
Go gently into the rain, don’t hesitate.
Raiiiin oooo raiiiiinnn oooooo! (2)

This rain will pass and another monsoon too
Try not to shield from its fury, it’s liquid onslaught
Then we will dance on fallow fields and limpid lakes
What remains of its legacy in its wake.

Dance gently to the rain’s mad rhythm, my friend
Go gently into the rain, don’t hesitate.
Raiiiin oooo raiiiiinnn oooooo! (2)

(c) 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Doodles at the Sahar Airport


Distraught mothers waving sons goodbye
Harassed men pushing carts loaded with many bags
Sweet-looking, brusque, beautiful hostesses
New mothers holding wonder-eyed babies
The computer professional, knapsack on shoulder
Executives striding confidently, nervously
The confused tourist carrying backpack too large
Painted women whose stilettos make them imposing
Confusion of passports, boarding cards, endless queues
Gun-holding security men in starched uniforms
The strong smell of disinfectant, sanitized food
The airport is where voyages are embarked and disembarked
Not in steamy hot man-o-wars of yore, but
In air-controlled seclusion, and sequestered egos
Where every man and woman is an explorer
Compressing months of travelling into a few hours
And merging people into one palimpsest of cultures.