Vampire

Your hosts are almost glad he gate-crashed: see, How his eyes brighten on the whisky, how his wit Tumbles the company like a lightning stroke -

You marvel where he gets his energy from ...

But that same instant, here, far underground, This fusty carcass stirs its shroud and swells.

'Stop, stop, oh for God's sake, stop!' you shriek As your tears run down, but he goes on and on Mercilessly till you think your ribs must crack

While this carcass's eyes grimace, stitched In the cramp of an ordeal, and a squeeze of blood Crawls like scorpions into its hair.

You plead, limp, dangling in his mad voice, till With a sudden blood-spitting cough,

                                                 he chokes: he leaves

Trembling, soon after.

                            You slump back down in a chair Cold as a leaf, your heart scarcely moving...

Deep under the city's deepest stone This grinning sack is bursting with your blood.

Ted Hughes

Pond, Where.. by Ravikumar

Pond, Where...( Kaadaaga Sambu)

Ravikumar

A wilderness of reeds

grows along the bank.

Waterweeds

dense and rank

float arm in arm, like half-hidden

crocodiles.

In between,

the water smiles.

Left to soak, bamboo poles

sprout green shoots.

At water’s edge a kingfisher eyes

its prey.

Sometimes big murrel fish

dash against our calves,

leap up and fall back

with a plop.

At daybreak and nightfall,

Sivan’s temple spires

admire themselves

in the village pond,

where you can

wash your cattle

rinse your shit-rags

clean your arse

where we alone

may not fetch

water.

Translated by Vasantha Surya

Draupadi

-       Keki N.Daruwalla

The travails of Draupadi

are never-ending.

It seems— some people have it

in their bleeding stars:

first exploited by the Pandavas,

five to one,

then by the Kauravas,

hundred to one

and now by the feminists

in millions.

"Boat-ride along the Ganga", casts a

wry look at the contradictions that

abound in the life of a Hindu:

What plane of destiny have I arrived at

where corpse-fires and cooking-fires

burn side by side?

                                        A NEGRO LABOURER IN LIVERPOOL
                                                                                   
                                                                                              -DAVID RUBADIRI

I passed him
slouching in dark backhouse pavement
head bowed
taut
haggard
and worn
a dark shadow
amidst dark shadows

I stared
our eyes met
but on his dark negro face
no sunny smile
no hope
or a longing for hope promised only
the quick cowed dart of eyes
piercing through impassive crowds
searching longingly
for a face
that might flicker understanding

this is him
the negro labourer in Liverpool
that from his motherland
with new hope
sought for an identity
grappled
to clutch the fire of manhood
in the land of the free.

WITHIN THE VEIL Poem written by Michelle Cliff

                                                                   WITHIN THE VEIL

1.       Color ain’t no faucet

                    You can’t turn it off and on

                     I say, color ain’t no faucet

                    You can’t turn it off and on

                    Tell the world who you are

                    Or you might as well be gone.

2.       Now, the Whiteman makes the rules

         But we got to learn to turn them down

         Yes,baby,the Whiteman makes the ruls

         But we got to learn to turn them down

         Can’t abide this shit no longer

         We got to swing the thing around.

3.      You can pass in many ways , mama

       This is one thing that I know

       I say, You can pass in many ways , mama

       This is one thing that I know

       Unless you quit your passing, honey

       You only gonna come to woe.

4.     Oh, we call them ofay

       By that we mean the foe

       Yes, sisters , we can call them ofay

       By that we mean the foe

       But that’s only half the battle

       You lie if you tell me you don’t know.

5.     Now Zora was a genius

       But there were some did call her fool

       I say, Zora was a genius

       But there were some did call her fool

       Now , you consider mules and men

       And how many times she broke the whiteman’s rule.

6.     Some of us come from islands

       And some of us born in the U.S.A.

       Some of us come from islands

       And some of us born in the U.S.A.

       There are those of us who marry

       And others who will always be gay.

7.      No two people are the same

        It’s what gives life a thrilling twist

        No two people are the same, children

        That’s what gives life a thrilling twist

         How dare anyone object

         Tell me I had better not exist.

8.     Some of us use the hot comb

       And some of us have natural hair

       Yes, sisters, Some of us use the hot comb

       And some of us have natural hair

       You should  ponder Madame C.J.Walker

       Before you suck your teeth and stare.

9.     Sister Lorraine talked revolution

       Talked of “ the beauty of things black”

       Yes, Lorraine talked revolution baby’

       Talked of “ the beauty of things black”

       And then she was killed by cancer

       Just like a well-aimed shot in her strong brown back.

10.   Your best friend’s a bull dagger

       That is very plain to see

        I say your best friend’s a bull dagger

       That is very plain to see

       Now that you been told it

        Can you tell them you love me?

11.   We got to love each other

       That  is what is known as the bottom line

        I say, We got to love each other

       That  is what they call the bottom line

      Can’t say to each other

      To hell with you, this piece of the world is mine.

12.   Some of us part Indian

       And some of us part white

Yes, sisters, some of us part Indian

       And some of us part white

       But we still will call you sisters

       Even if you judge our skin too light.

13.   Gold chains are love-symbols

You tell me where they are found

Yes, gold chains are love-symbols

You tell me where gold is found

There are deep mines  in South Africa

Where our brothers sweat their lives underground.

14.   God loves the babies in Soweto

And the babies in Harlem too

I say, God loves the babies in Soweto

And the babies in Harlem too

But his love alone can’t save them

We got to figure what we can do.

15.   If we say Third World Revolution 

The white folks say World War III

If we say Third World Revolution , baby

The white folks say World War III

Seems they imagine Armageddon

Is prettier than if we be free.

16.   I got brothers and sisters in prison

All across the U.S.A.

Yes,  I got brothers and sisters in prison

All across the U.S.A.

Some folks broke the rules

Others just been put away.

17.   Elijah Pate was gunned down

Shot five times  by the Boston cops

Yes, Brother Elijah was gunned down

Shot five times  by the Boston cops

And the d.a won’t bring charges

Says Elijah gunned his car and wouldn’t stop

18.   They want us in their factories

And they want us in their homes

I say , They want us in their factories

And they want us in their homes

They’ll take some for their armed forces

And some more for their astrodomes

19.   They see our brothers as monsters

Or as harmless smart-assed little boys

They judge our brothers to be monsters

Want to keep them harmless little boys

Let just one speak his piece

And watch the guns replace the toys.

20.   Don’t overstep your boundaries

Act like you have a little sense

No,  don’t overstep your boundaries

Act like you have a little sense

Was the lesson my mama taught me

To live surrounded by a whiteman’s fence

21.   It’s all about survival

And about how to get by

Yes, It’s all about survival

And about how to get by

But we got to do it better

Else we might as well lay down and die.

                                                            -MICHELLE CLIFF