Thank you to all our wonderful Writers, Poets, and Photographers who made our Second Edition possible!
- Header: art submission by Leslie Rochelle
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Attuned
- Robert Allen
Every time
I drop acid
I stay awake
for 2 days -
What should
be a glory of smashing
bright brilliant stars
keeps me up wondering:
what the hour is
if my breathing is real
(or done by a machine).
If the heat in
my heart will burn me.
o
Lady of gold and
memories
take me to
your riverbed
and wash me
in your
grace-
for God's sake
(and this for 2 days!)
in a chaos of angels
I lay here, wide awake.
- Robert Allen
Every time
I drop acid
I stay awake
for 2 days -
What should
be a glory of smashing
bright brilliant stars
keeps me up wondering:
what the hour is
if my breathing is real
(or done by a machine).
If the heat in
my heart will burn me.
o
Lady of gold and
memories
take me to
your riverbed
and wash me
in your
grace-
for God's sake
(and this for 2 days!)
in a chaos of angels
I lay here, wide awake.
Insight
Guna Moran
For some reason
you are upset with me
for a couple of days
Although I don't know the reason
I guess it right
You haven't spelled it out
I too haven't asked you
We have taken opposite positions
Silence is chatting between us
Maybe the conversation is called
the battle of nerves
Bloodless
without arms
this is the most difficult battle
On earth it is the best person
who wins this battle again and again
It is the one who ends this silent battle
is ever defeated
You want to be the winner
Me too don't want to be the loser
So the distance between us is widening
* * * * * *
(Original Assamese poem titled “Antardarshan”)
Translation by © Nirendra Nath Thakuria
Guna Moran
For some reason
you are upset with me
for a couple of days
Although I don't know the reason
I guess it right
You haven't spelled it out
I too haven't asked you
We have taken opposite positions
Silence is chatting between us
Maybe the conversation is called
the battle of nerves
Bloodless
without arms
this is the most difficult battle
On earth it is the best person
who wins this battle again and again
It is the one who ends this silent battle
is ever defeated
You want to be the winner
Me too don't want to be the loser
So the distance between us is widening
* * * * * *
(Original Assamese poem titled “Antardarshan”)
Translation by © Nirendra Nath Thakuria
First Lesson
Guna Moran
Sitting hunched at the hearth
of useful knowledge
she toasted her ashen eyes
through the gaps of her fingers
and very often said
You are my unique achievements
of my sacrifice
for long ten months and ten days
By birth you’ve got a beautiful earth
besides the vast sky
So you must be generous like the sun
and tolerant like the earth
At my birth I cried
Maybe I got the pains of my mother
Since then I have had tears in my eyes
in happiness and sorrow of people
One can't help crying
whose only companion at birth was tears
That honeyed word, "Maa"
was my first honeyed word
Since then I've blurted out "Maa"
unawares
whenever I sit down or stand up
My birth is my mother's sacrifice
I must be made for sacrifice
An ingrate I can't be
My happiness lies in my mother's happiness
My sorrow lies in my mother's sorrow
Never can I be happy
He is the lone custodian of happiness
whose main assets are
the sun and the earth
* * * * * *
(Original Assamese poem titled “Adipath”)
Translation by © Nirendra Nath Thakuria
Guna Moran
Sitting hunched at the hearth
of useful knowledge
she toasted her ashen eyes
through the gaps of her fingers
and very often said
You are my unique achievements
of my sacrifice
for long ten months and ten days
By birth you’ve got a beautiful earth
besides the vast sky
So you must be generous like the sun
and tolerant like the earth
At my birth I cried
Maybe I got the pains of my mother
Since then I have had tears in my eyes
in happiness and sorrow of people
One can't help crying
whose only companion at birth was tears
That honeyed word, "Maa"
was my first honeyed word
Since then I've blurted out "Maa"
unawares
whenever I sit down or stand up
My birth is my mother's sacrifice
I must be made for sacrifice
An ingrate I can't be
My happiness lies in my mother's happiness
My sorrow lies in my mother's sorrow
Never can I be happy
He is the lone custodian of happiness
whose main assets are
the sun and the earth
* * * * * *
(Original Assamese poem titled “Adipath”)
Translation by © Nirendra Nath Thakuria
"The Pumpkin Prince" - anonymous submission
Until you've suffered with it
- Mark Andrew Heathcote
When you've depression abstinence
comes from not speaking, not-eating,
not-caring but plenty of hard-drinking.
When you've depression temperance
is a lonely fictitious word out of verse?
No longer coupled with the meaning of this world
sobriety isn't it just an oceanic bird
not yet drown, but in a self-denial
that it has been flying, way too long?
Indulgence is a self-inflicted rushing tidal-
wave through the dense, thick fog, ere long.
No, it can't ever be confused with love.
When you've depression, there's no love-
can keep you safe above the waves that choke-
until you've suffered with it, depression is no joke.
WANDERLUST to ASSAM
- Deepika Singh
Life in Assam is like a holiday,
Serene and peaceful life,
Welcome to my land of 'Red rivers and blue hills'.
Garland of lofty hills,
Mighty Brahmaputra fulfills our thirst,
Wrapped with lush greenery,
Ah! the panoramic view of morning tea gardens,
And the carpet paddy fields,
Gives you divine rapture.
My land was once ruled by lionhearted Sukapha and Lachit Borphukan,
Which have stories galore,
That electrifies our body.
Blessed my land to cradel virtuous Sankardev,
Who added colours to my dear Assam.
Auspicious sound of 'Doba' and ' Borkanh' from Namghar makes the aura divine.
The advent of 'Bihu' drives us crazy.
Majuli is our jewel, one horn rhino is our pride and 'Muga silk' adds to its shine.
A nest for colourful tribes,
Always humble and dressed with a smile,
Untouched land is still unexplored,
Step your feet and become mesmerized.
- Deepika Singh
Life in Assam is like a holiday,
Serene and peaceful life,
Welcome to my land of 'Red rivers and blue hills'.
Garland of lofty hills,
Mighty Brahmaputra fulfills our thirst,
Wrapped with lush greenery,
Ah! the panoramic view of morning tea gardens,
And the carpet paddy fields,
Gives you divine rapture.
My land was once ruled by lionhearted Sukapha and Lachit Borphukan,
Which have stories galore,
That electrifies our body.
Blessed my land to cradel virtuous Sankardev,
Who added colours to my dear Assam.
Auspicious sound of 'Doba' and ' Borkanh' from Namghar makes the aura divine.
The advent of 'Bihu' drives us crazy.
Majuli is our jewel, one horn rhino is our pride and 'Muga silk' adds to its shine.
A nest for colourful tribes,
Always humble and dressed with a smile,
Untouched land is still unexplored,
Step your feet and become mesmerized.
You couldn't make it up
- Alan Bedworth
I saw a frog on the top of my wardrobe.
Funny but I was outside.
The clock showed 6 0'clock.
The frog did then croak
who put me in a house
and on top of a wardrobe too.
A buzzard and pelican flew past
holding wings.
A walrus sauntered out of the
front door, without a care
in the world.
It was at this time a gorilla
opened my skull.
There was nothing inside.
So goodnight from him.
- Alan Bedworth
I saw a frog on the top of my wardrobe.
Funny but I was outside.
The clock showed 6 0'clock.
The frog did then croak
who put me in a house
and on top of a wardrobe too.
A buzzard and pelican flew past
holding wings.
A walrus sauntered out of the
front door, without a care
in the world.
It was at this time a gorilla
opened my skull.
There was nothing inside.
So goodnight from him.