This is the master of each poem I write for Inktober 2021, updated each day.
My style matches this format better than Instagram, even if the latter allows for music and stuff. It's up to the reader, whatever they prefer.
At the end of the day, du-du-du-du du We're no strangers to love, you know the rules and so do I...
THE LAWS OF WAR
Little grains floating on the night-riverCrouching in supplication and lust
Candles voicing a feeble protest
Fractals on a melting snowflake
Crystals of sugar in a child's mouth
Most noble, most foul
Visage of God and Satan
Lowest of the Low, Highest of the High
The drug peddler feeding his family
The broken clocks in a junkyard
The brute offering water to his enemy
The poet writing odes to a tyrant
The pain hiding behind violence
The cruelty behind affectation
The thorns on a rose stem
The amulet on the wrist of a scientist
The hollow bullet of a cold soldier
The sharp needle of an aid worker
The ink of a martyred scholar
The scholars of bloodshed
Three hundred seasons dance
Awaiting a four line epitaph
At the drying of the pen
Every poem must finish.
Humans are walking contradictions, short-lived and yet so remarkable, capable of both the best and worst, a terrible beauty we're burdened with till the inevitable end
Written to "Coming Back To You" by Leonard Cohen.
The deck held to my chest
Each suit tucked tight
Folded in fat fingers waiting
The choice at each turn
The option to fold
The joys of a win
The pain of a loss
The quick calculation
The gambles and gambits
Why do we even play?
Life is a difficult, unrewarding game. And yet, the will to live drives us on through everything it throws at us. What is in this game that makes it so addictive?
Written to "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.
The Sun sets all the time
When the winter comes
Will blood surge warm
Small brave tough vessels
Holding off the cold
I want to stand proud
I want to see it all congeal
Take shape in the summer
Or with frozen green boots
Save more fortunate souls
At some point you weather the storms and find out what your purpose is. Maybe it is in helping people, maybe you don't even know what it is now, maybe you even learn your purpose after your time is up.
Written to "I Want To Get Better" and "Like A River Runs" by Bleachers.
TILL DEATH DO US PART
They tied a knot in the city square
A holy knot symbolizing the Gods
The priests they came to Iskandar
He cut through it with his blade
And conquered all Asia.
Dedicated to the memory of Arbaz Mullah. Some things are seen as holy when they are unholy; some things are seen as unholy when they are, in fact, holy. The caste system is the precise reason why India lost so many wars in the past (including with Alexander himself) and it still holds us back today, a 2000 year legacy of hatred and death. We need to cut the Gordian knot before it strangles us all.
Written to "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" by Billy Joel.
THE ARTHRITIC BALLERINA
A tune lost by the thorny path
Memories of choices and chances
Old friends giving up and giving way
Ghosts in the corner of an eye
Grey's conquest of once raven hair.
I am terrified of growing old.
Written to "Runaway Horses" by The Killers ft. Phoebe Bridgers.
RUH
Someone laced my wine with spirit
Someone laced the spirit with bitterant
A cold bucket of water for the devout
Who lay pleasantly drunk doing zikr
But not to worry
Who but the Beloved would test His loved ones
Who plunges the faithful into dark cold ocean depths
Who casts the children into water that they may swim
Who guides them through inebriety and sobriety
To lift them up close
I search for His Love in the lament of Ayyub
I seek His Patience in the suffering of Yusuf
I ask for temperence in succour with a sajda on the saddle
I know Pharoah must drown in my river of tears
And the dust kiss my beard.
Every difficulty is a test. In an ephermal world, it too must pass.
Written to "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go" by the Reverend George Matheson, "Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (shoutout to Ratul) and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac.
THE LAST SUPPER BEFORE DAWN
Palliative care
All of life's cheap vanities
The fans of Kota.
At the end of the day, all of life's happy moments serve only as temporary distraction from its griefs, much like a painkiller for a terminally ill patient. Happiness is a facade, death and pain are constants and the worth of this world is less than the wing of a fly (not my words there). This does not mean peace is impossible - there is peace in accepting one's existence and finding meaning in it. Also, guess the artist!
Written to "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff and, oddly, "Dead Right Now" by Lil Nas X.
ZEALOTS
Watch for the day the river and sea shake hands
Wait for Fajr in the Al Aqsas of the world
Let the Azaan bring to life fields freed
Where tanks and jets were defeated by a people
Armed with keys, spoons and their hearts.
Watch for the day the children laugh
Wait for David to cast his stone
As the Lord chooses His own
And on the graves of the Angels
We will write "Never Again".
One of my earliest memories is of going to a protest during the Second Intifada. I couldn't believe my ears when my mother told me a war was going on for 50 years. It's been more than 20 years since then and not only has nothing changed, Israel elected a far-right nutcase who broke all conventions and peace efforts in his blind hatred of Palestinians - his biggest supporters antisemitic Evangelical Christians and the Sangh. He himself has pushed antisemitic nonsense in an attempt to appropriate the worst genocide in modern history for political hatred. If Jewish history is anything to go by, tyrants like him and his chelas will not prevail for long, and peace and harmony will one day be restored between Muslims and Jews and to a region so plagued by fighting. The Lord "chose his own" once, freeing Jerusalem from the Crusaders, and likewise united resistance will overcome racism and Islamophobia against the forces of colonialism and apartheid. There were Egyptians who fought and escaped with Moses after all.
Written to "Long Live Palestine 1&2" by Lowkey et al, "The Plagues" from the film Prince Of Egypt and "Talkin' Bout A Revolution" by Tracy Chapman.
THE BATTLE OF THE HYDROXIDES AND BROMIDES IN THE PRESENCE OF ALUMINIUM CHLORIDE, DEITY OF WAR, DISEMBOWELLING A BENZENE RING
I had my problems with Biology
That is why I left the field
But Biology is far better
Than those damned letters
P, V, N, R and T.
Quantum Chemistry and Physics were worse I guess, and don't even get me started on Mathematics.
Written to "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie.
HON HON HON
The first Frenchman to ever exist
Was lost in the thick French forest
He ate snails off the ground
And tree-fungus he found
Washed down with frog's legs
He then declared his culinary pick
A pinnacle of the gastronomic
Pungent cheese and wine
Helped mask the snail-slime
And that is why French culture is shit.
I do not waste any opportunity I get to dunk on the Fr*nch. Anglos and Americans are fun to dunk on too, but nothing is more satisfying then shit-talking the entire nation of France. It's not like the French President doesn't shit-talk Muslims on the daily.
Written to "Bojna Cavoglave" by Thompson, "Oj Alija Alijo" by Koridor and Bosanska Artiljerija by Muhamed Brkic Hamo. There's nothing like Balkan turbofolk for being hateful lmao.
BRAVERY
Long have people searched
For the ubermensch in the light
The trail of blood they left
The searchlights in the sky
The blinding harsh white
In the dark the ubermensch sat
Staring at the lights in the sky
Blond hair on sour razorblades
A handful of jasmine buds
The uberfrau sighed sadly.
We associate strength with success. Strength to me is being yourself and standing up for what you believe in. Strength is protecting the rights of vulnerable people - especially people attacked historically for perceived "weakness" and subversion of the patriarchal norm, people who have been murdered en masse and are still being murdered en masse. Last year I was raided by a gang of TERFs for making a post about trans rights. This year, I reiterate.
Written to "Walk On The Wild Side" by Lou Reed and "The Partisan" by Leonard Cohen, originally by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie.
WAYANG
Puppets dance awhile
In the hour before the box
A sweet show it is.
Puppets are not stuck
In a universe of strings
They find their freedom.
Human existence is built with its own limitations and expiry date. Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains - but like a prisoner finds some purpose to pass through his sentence, we find ways to give our lives meaning and make something beautiful of the time and chances we get, to create one big wonderful story. Are the puppets used for the Indonesian art of Wayang any different from us in that regard?
Written to "Heroes" by David Bowie and "Because The Night" by Patti Smith Group.
ASH
I was on the roof watching
All the lights fall silent
The way everyone had
When Pharoah's ropes
Had turned into snakes
Little did anyone know
How many lights would fall silent
A red cross stood mute glowing
As if in silent disapproval
As the Plague waited for a signal
They paint this land an Elephant
Through the numb disbelief of Fall
The leaves that fell in Summer
The melting ice of Russia
The elephant never forgets.
"A man without any history is like a tree without roots" - Malcolm X.
Written to "Door Hato Ae Duniyawalo", an anticolonial song from the Quit India movement, performed by Amirbai Karnataki and Khan Mastana and written by Anil Biswas and Kavi Pradeep, as well as "Bella Ciao", an Italian antifascist song. Anyone who mentions that Casa Papa Heist thing will be hunted down mercilessly.
GIGACHUNGSUS
Tick-tock
Why yes, I work in Anthropology, how could you tell?
Written to "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire and "Can You Feel My Heart" by Bring Me The Horizon.
LIONHEART
Like a charging soldier
I put on my helmet
Close my eyes
Take a deep breath
And pour my heart out.
The creative process is extraordinarily difficult and emotionally exhausting. The culmination is art that may or may not resonate - but when it does, it is worth every bit of the struggle. Paradoxically, the hallmark of a good artist is an obsession with perfection and thus they must be at least a little unhappy with their final product, no matter how great it may be. In that way, creation is an act of vulnerable bravery. Not that this has anything to do with the late uploads - I had an exam and brownies to deliver.
Written to "Breaking The Habit" by Linkin Park and "Don't Go Dark" by Bleachers.
AUFERSTANDEN AUS RUINEN
The compass needle points North
Leading the Believer on his journey
And no matter how much Satan tries
To make it waver or point South
It must always return home.
The compass needle has been yanked
By men hoping to defeat nature
They tire, fall in despair and let go
The needle resolute issues its tireless call
The Believers pray a thanks Heavenwards
They begin the long trudge home again.
Long have people in power attempted to wrest control and pervert the natural course of progress. They must, at some point, fall. This was written primarily about the Suharto regime, but there are quite a few people who come to mind!
Written to "Sunset Di Tanah Anarki" by Superman Is Dead and "Auferstanden Aus Ruinen" ("Risen From The Ruins"), the national anthem of East Germany.
SHATRANJ
Two wits collide
Bloody boxer's hungry eye-gleam
Weighing perfection and harmony
The ocean of flying scimitars
The duel of snake-masters
Some set up mighty fortresses
Some observe and whittle the foe
Some call the charge and plunge
Some grapple and strangle slow
Force and object in balanced contest
Death to the one who slips last
The one who lets the scales fall
Glory to the one who gambles
The artisan of the immortal
The noble savage in war paint
The conch blows, the kumite bow
Choking tension and shaking fingers
One must crack in a war of extinction
Over captive generals and fallen men
The flag is raised over the ramparts.
The game of chess is art, a form of war-poetry. The tension and craft and flow of a well fought game is something akin to a painting or a poem that ebbs and flows with sensuous grace. When I played in tournaments, every game 3+ hours of sheer mental torture ending in utter joy or grief. It's why chess has a terrible beauty - it is brutal on the losing side, even though it requires two great players to make a great game. It imbues the interdependent spirits of both warrior and general. (All of this is null and void if you open with 1.d4)
Written to "Triumph", "Protect Ya Neck", "Shadowboxin'", "4th Chamber" and "Weak Spot" by the Wu-Tang Clan, especially GZA.
UHUD
Nobody can touch the Stars
Nobody owns the Moon
Not one leaf falls but for Him
Who is Man in his arrogance
Thinking this life permanent
Felling its prisoners
Leaving its residents
To chew on Lotus
Who is Man to create borders
Where God has made Life?
"Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits [of your toil], but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere; Who say, when afflicted with calamity: To Allah we belong, and to Him we return" - Quran 2:155-156
Written to "Above The Clouds" by Gang Starr and "Fear Not Of Man" by Mos Def/Yasiin Bey.
MOBIUS
If Life were a loop of music
I would proud to be a note
A beautiful poetic sentence
In the novels of the nameless
A flower that blooms at night.
Short but sweet, layered with contrasts and contradictions, Life and Humans are cool but for now it's time for vibing not silly philosophy, let us spit on Jamal's navel-gazing, tfu tfu and here's a shoe.
Written to "Can I Kick It" by A Tribe Called Quest and "93 Til' Infinity" by Souls Of Mischief.
THE BELIEVER
Buried and long-forgotten
The soldier and the seed lie
Waiting for the rains to cease
When, from his heart, it sprouts
A fragrant fruit-tree.
There is always hope and relief through perseverance. A sister post to the last one. Can you see how? Comment if you do.
Written to "Overstand" by Dead Prez and "Wake Up Everybody" by The Roots, Common, John Legend and Melanie Fiona.
THE MIRAGE
When the sands turned fuzzy
There was Death on the Knee
Life on the foot in no direction
I walked hoping to find Madinah
And feel lentils on my dry gums.
"I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be"
Written to "Through The Wire" by Kanye West and "B.O.B." by Outkast.
COPIUM
Humans find humour in adversity
Wouldn't YOU revel in absurdity
And have a laugh
After getting past
A botched open-heart surgery?
The reason dark humour exists lies fundamentally in the absurdity of human existence and our ability to laugh at things we cannot control. It's why absurdist art forms like Dadaism are considered anticapitalist - humour is one big cope.
Written to Polozhenie (it was either this or Wide Putin Walk) and Astronaut In The Ocean (GOTCHA).
SAFETY VALVE
The dam swells with the rains
It remains to be seen if the King
Will let it leak slow into the river
Or risk an uncontrolled burst
Drowning the garrison downstream.
What happens when you bottle things up PepeLa.
Written to "Song For Denise (Maxi Version)" by Piano Fantasia and "Mustang Dong" from Helluva Boss (thank you Sanaa for getting me addicted to this damn song).
THE DOOMER
WORLD BAD SOCIETY BAD ME SAD
STARS MOON NIGHT DAY MYRIAD
PRAY TO GOD PHAROAH WILL SINK
WE MUST MAKE HUMANITY EXTINCT
1453 REVOLUTION IN BALKAN BILAAD
Oh btw have I told you about the Dorde Martinovic incident?
Written to "Albanian" by Etnon ft. Lyrical Son and DJ Blunt and "Hasbi Rabbi" by Sami Yusuf. PeepoBaba.
RATTLESNAKES AND ALLIGATORS
If some people a time machine had
They'd try to meet their grand-dad
I'm simpler than the other fellows
I want to toast marshmallows
Over Nagasaki going "schplatt"
In commemoration of the greatest salt mines in history, namely the Wehraboo Saltmine, the Tojoboo Saltmine and the Leeaboo Saltmine. Located in three different continents, these mines produce and export tonnes of the finest fash salt in the world.
Written to "Tremor" by Martin Garrix and Like Mike, "Unravel" from Tokyo Ghoul and "John Brown's Body" by Pete Seeger.
EL JOGO BONITO
Not just scramble and futile dive
Jarring falls and shameful defeat
Nor a patch for defensive foibles
I connect the pieces
I conduct the orchestra
I calculate and gambit
I am aggressive in my defence
Unrelenting in my duels
I am the gloved Grandmaster
I play Napoleon.
I love the role of Goalkeeper for the same reason I love chess: it is a position that requires a lot of skill, wits, and bravado, with very little scope for error. Sweeper keepers take things to the next level with their form of aggressive defense; the heroics of Manuel Neuer against Algeria in 2014 were seared into my brain as a kid, and my favourite footballer of all time would be the great Lev Yashin, the only goalkeeper to ever win a Ballon D'Or, who channeled his experiences during the defence of Moscow to create the role.
Written to "One Night In Bangkok" from the musical Chess, and "Wavin' Flag" by K'Naan (THE MEMORIES).
SHER-E-HINDUSTAN
When Fate makes the warpath diverge
The road to Heaven washed with blood
And the road to Hell paved in gold
When the Dajjal plays puppetmaster
And God cannot be perceived anywhere
Would you surrender and petition for mercy
Or would you spark a fire you may never see
Would you stand with a sword at your walls
And die bravely in the pyre you set alight
To rise a Phoenix in the hearts of the Righteous?
Here lies a just ruler in the court of Al-Hakam
Grasping the earth his blood watered
From there grew revolt and rebellion
The land turned firm in the rains
And the fires turned cool for the Faithful
Hold your head high, O Children of Tipu
Beset by all the world in a heat of ignorance
The Jackal is numerous and relentless
But in his heart he is a cowardly dog
While in our blood the Tiger roars.
"Jodi tor daak shune keu naa aase, tobe ekla cholo re".
Written to "Ekla Cholo Re" by Rabindranath Tagore, and "Mera Tipu Sher E Mysore Hai" by Azim Naza. There are tons of DJ remixes of the latter and other songs about him that are nothing short of epic, especially "Tipu Sultan Ki Talwar" with its tastefully arranged sword noises.
SYNESTHESIA
Pitter-patter the rain drips
By the gurgling rivulets
Pakodas sizzle and hiss
Crunchy, crispy, visibly hot
And chai murmurs in the kettle.
The five senses are not as distinct as they seem. Some things evoke sounds when read, some things evoke images when heard, some things when seen evoke smell and taste. I MISS CHENNAI FOOD. Those pakodas are officially the deep-fried beef pakodas they sell on the ECR >:(
Written to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin and "Jamaican Farewell" by Harry Belafonte.
PROHIBITION
In the burnt forest
A painter looks for muses
Patches of life lost.
Kullu man 'alayha faan.
Written to "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush and "Drive Home" by Steven Wilson (Shoutout to Rohan for introducing this song to me in first year, it took me over half a decade to truly appreciate it!)
THE TREE OF LIFE
In the night camp fire
The ancestors dance and feast
To the deeds of sons.
When it is embers
They gallop to the sun's edge
Slithering shadows.
This started off as shitpost, based on a running joke in the family that we're all descended from Mongols, that somehow acquired a deeper meaning as I went on. The structure of the poem is inspired by the works of e e cummings. Long live Jo Varghezig Yeldokhaan and his First Year Horde.
Written to "Yi Jian Mei" by Yu-Ching Fei and "Chinggis Khaan Magtaal" by Batzorig Vaanchig of Khusugtun. Mongolian throat singing ftw.
THE SQUID GAME
Discretion be damned
The biggest risk I could take
Is not to take risks.
A gambler loses more than he ever wins, and yet he does it in hope of a victory that would make it all worthwhile.
Written to "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan and "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
Shiny crystals and sharp suits
Vessels of time gathering dust
Knots tied in funeral cloth
A raven, symbol of death, awaits
As the spirit ascends serene.
Fan the flames of fury then
As druids watch, sickle in hand
Light pressure on the handles
A pick of choice mistletoe
Fumes souring the night air.
When the ritual knife is stuck
And ye cry from the rooftops
Nothing stops the clock's tick
All man's plans a cloth helmet
Compasses in a maelstrom.
The seas chop and collide
The moon tugs nonchalant
Painting pretty loops of brine
In the stillness where grief sprouts
She shines shimmering, fuzzy.
Clay, open to the poison of the world
Made of good clay, that does not leak
Trampled by ancient beasts long extinct
Slapped with a "splat" on hard walls
The child that connects dust and water.
The Lord knows every ember and spark
That crackles crispy against numb hearts
Lean cows grazing on the grape-patch
Slithering snaking smoke from a cold match
The Arab singing as the caravan departs:
"Dogs pose no risk when
They bark in the desert night
At passing camels."
A combination of everything from this last month, using every prompt and style. Dedicated to everyone who suffered in some way this last one year, especially due to the pandemic. Things always get better, life always finds a way.
Written to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel, "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "It Ain't Me" by Selena Gomez ft. Kygo, "Little Dark Age" by MGMT, "Jungleland" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, "Mr Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan, "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits, "Bat Out Of Hell" by Meatloaf, "Up Up And Away" by Kid Cudi and "Born To Run" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (one last shoutout, to Ratul. Make that one last Broosroll as well 😉). These are all songs that didn't make the final cut. Half the fun is introducing my favourite songs to people.
...
This was a nerve wracking October, with exams, applications and work all vying with each other to harangue me. Thank God I got through that.
I am glad I could finish this challenge and even build on the work of the last year stylistically and thematically - I reduced the first-person narrative style and long poems in favour of shorter, more dense poems with more references and metaphors.
I will take a break now, and return sometime in December/January earliest. Check out my blog for what I think is a better representation of my poetry, and my Inktober playlists.
This has been a fun Inktober, coinciding with collective recovery from an awful few months, hopefully years. I think that reflects in some of the poems here, they're not as depressed as the stuff I put out in 2020. I hope things go up from here.
Until October 2022, goodbye!
Comments
Post a Comment