the radio complained today

said the poets didn’t shout

asked where we were

while the flag was being torn

and i wondered

since when did we get a job description

the fourth estate cries foul

pointing accusing fingers

you – you’re the people’s voice

where were you?

 

we were here all along

laughing, drinking, sleeping, ignoring

what love we have is for ourselves

but you may have our scorn

for you have forgotten Burke

and have lost yourselves in hyposcrisy

turn your questions back

and know this –

there is no poet’s gallery

in this parliament

 

i have sat through whole dinners

not wanting to say a word

how can a man talk so much

and not want to say anything

i know more can be heard

by a turn

by a look

by a tilt

 

i am inktongue

digital phorphorecense

bleeds out my fingertips

in endless bacchanal paens

senseless

poured out only to be

poured in again

stopping up this voice

that only the sound of breathing

remains

while every shout and laugh and song

is sung from heart to keypad

till no ear hears

what is meant for the eyes

the dream of the eyes

 

I just watched Deepa Mehta’s movie Heaven on Earth and was really blown away. The movie chronicles a young Indian woman’s journey to Toronto, Canada to live with her new husband and extended family. The marriage is arranged and clearly an inconvenience for the husband. The husband lives with his mother and father, sister and brother-in-law, niece and nephew in a small house.

 

Mother is the matriarch and essentially a domineering bitter old woman who controls the people around her while her son is repressed and filled with anger. Unfortunately his new Indian bride bears the brunt of his anger as he beats her and attempts to control her. Her mother-in-law treats her terribly as does her sister-in-law.

 

The narrative is really quite brilliant and woven into the story is an Indian myth that the young bride recites herself as her mother did to her when she was home in India. The myth is a comfort to her and becomes personified in the movie helping to bring about the conclusion. Really a very powerful and emotional film artfully done.

 

Mehta has directed a number of movies, notably Hollywood/Bollywood an Indian/North American crossover that did quite well. As the director Mehta uses the film as a vehicle to present the plight of immigrant families to Canada and the cultural pressure between generations as well as the plight of women in general, pressure on men of other cultures and the growing resentment between immigrant children born in Canada and their parents and grandparents who struggle to keep mother country traditions. There is also a peek into inter-cultural clash between immigrant communities.

 

Overall a powerful film with a strong story and message. Not everyone will enjoy the movie as it blends Indian and North American influences (as Mehta does in most of her films). I think it acheives its aims quite remarkably but many North American viewers may find the movie boring because it is very story driven.

 

I highly recommend it and would love to hear your impressions (good or bad) if and when you see it. It is available for rental. Please note that the movie is subtitled with English.

 

sometimes i sing

reign in me

when the heart

has an empty throne

but

more often than not

i sing

rein in me

in the crazy times

when i run half-mad

through life

rein in me

is a song-prayer-plea

 

then

there are times

the dry times

the desert times

when i sing

rain in me

fill my cracked soul to overflowing

and

rain in me

so

most of my song

most of my prayer

most of my plea

is

 

reign in

rein in

rain in

         me

 

in the fullness of time

sun rises

moon rises

lives born

lives ended

in the fullness of time

 

i want to pull up the moon

in the heat of the day

move at my desire

but it is not the way

and unripe fruit

pulled ahead of itself

is bitter on the tongue

while wine past its day

burns vinegar in my mouth

 

there is too early

there is too late

then there is

in the fullness of time

there is

            sweetness

 

everything’s asleep

all’s a breathing

all’s a deep sighing

and in the silence

there is night

there is dark

there is starless sky

and

there is wingless I

clung and bound

earth-side found

a living dream

of a long past day

waiting for the fog to roll in

 

there

can you hear

on the edge of things 

shadowy lost princesses

every girl in the world

crying for the real thing

and getting nothing

but camouflage love

and pain in prince’s clothing

 

daughters

listen

you can dance alone

for a while

wait for the best

the one who will

sacrifice himself for you

take nothing less

 

you are the priceless

you are the strong

you are loved

 

 

 

What is eternal in the word

the written

painted pixel in plasma

sometimes I wonder

at the point

 

sometimes

I get a good turn of phrase

but instead of saving it

waiting on family

I use it too soon

wasted like a new Armani suit

on an old soft body

or new paint

over rotting shingles

 

God thunders in His heaven

and the world pours down

upon our heads

life crashes ever forward

a broken symphony

threatening

                threatening

                                threatening

so I worried while the rain fell

and the rain still fell

I was anxious as the waves rose

and the waves still rose

I was angry as my home drowned

and my home still drowned

 

every emotion I threw at life

was as wind against a wall

and every tear fall from my eye

was water on rock

 

that’s when I stopped

that’s when I breathed

that’s when I realized

 

let peace reign here in this heart

and what will be will be

as God thunders in His heaven

I am in His will

not my own

so I will laugh and catch lightning

while I can

 

Guests of ours recently introduced us to flash mobs and I REALLY want to organize one at some point. Pretty cool idea. Flash Mobs are groups of people spontaneously bursting into some form of public display – could be dancing, could be 200 people suddenly standing perfectly still for five minutes in the middle of Grand Central Station in New York City. There are loads of flash mob videos on Youtube if you search for those key words.

 

I will post a really good video on my blog (http://poet.spaces.live.com) of a huge flash mob breaking into a Sound of Music dance routine in the middle of a train station in Antwerp, Belgium.

 

More info about flash mobs can be found here: