(At the request of a friend and for the fun of a digression, my entry this time takes the form of a poem. It's about political development in the country but focusses on nothing in particular. Just let the images invite your mind to wander and you might get what I mean or feel something arising from your own imagination. Don't hold me for it.)
Mind of the State
******************
(the pictures may help to stimulate your imagination)
The state of one's mind is no one else's business
but the mind of the State keeps us all anxious;
for it runs the ship with its rowdy loads
of different creeds with different needs or greed,
each croaking in democratic cacophony like drunken toads.
The State is but a corpus of different minds
brought together by history and Constitutional binds;
in prosperity nobody cares who does what and who rules the sun.
so long as my fortune is safe and life's a bundle of fun:
but comes a depression- your excesses are my obsession.
Since the rain never falls evenly in everyone's garden
the toads begin their throaty croaks to unleash their angry burden;
the giant Bifo Marinus becomes the envy of all anuras
a foreign breed grown prosperous in the major ponds and rivers,
while others though indigenous live in abject weariness.
In such a turmoil the leaders go bonkers,
protect the rich and the poor will tear up their fenders,
champion the poor and the rich will abandon ship
scoot with the loot and the State will drift into the deep:
like so many countries where no one can peacefully sleep.
Thank heaven in this blessed land of multiple breed,
the toads and frogs do fight but won't each other bleed,
It rains a lot but the water tanks often run dry,
for the mind of the State is oft upturned to the sky:
where the silver clouds and golden rainbow lie.
9. 12, 2010
9 comments:
Akhi Norzah,
My gosh! tickle, tickle and the Kratakoa explodes! Such an exquisite offering! Where have you been, Akhi? Keeping all the goodness locked away from human view. Intrusive, incisive, satire approach, froggy led , excellent image support – such a treasure trove. You have given through a lot of thinking on this one. Being a recognized poet, writer, political scientist and analyst, I suspect a lot more is waiting in line ready to be unleashed! . I must tell Ma’am Ninot this.
Akhi Norzah,
Mind of the State, the state of the mind, I almost forgot to mention it. Yes, have your poem linked. Magpie Tales is a good bet to start with. The current prompt is more on snow though. But take a look.
Thank you for the most encouraging remark, Akhi. The piece i wrote reflects my feelings on the politics of the day which i can never express in prose. In poetry it's sufficient to insinuate, suggests and leave some images to ponder on. No explanation needed. That's the beauty. But how many would understand? Too taxing for some, too sentimental for others while yet others just dismiss it as utter giberish. We'll have to see how my visitors take it.
I have gone through the prompts from magpie n the others, Akhi. Every link, conceptual and emotional, for me depends on my synaptic responses. What fires my brain cells gets into the frame, otherwise no explosion, hehehe.
Akhi Norzah,
Fire it up, Akhi. And correction on the spelling. Should be Krakatoa or krakatau.
Akhi Norzah,
It is absolutely satirical of the current State of the Union.
But what difference does it make to the "Ignoramus" who fills the corridor of power, because of their intoxication with their greed and selfishness.
Very true Akhi, and what do they care if you and all other bloggers including make write a thousand articles or poems to criticize and tease them. They are already intoxicated with power and wealth and after years of holding the reign of government, insensitive to criticisms even by the laser-mouthed opposition.
We can only exculpate ourselves from blame by NOT
CRITICIZING THEM AND GIVING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK.
That's all that we can do, right?
When lie is getting tough and the very survival is threatened one has to resort to giving pay-offs. Sadly some Malays are willing to compromise religious ethics for money - the root of all evils.
Under tough conditions especially involving survival. Akhi Pakcik Al-Manar, evern religious has a "dharuri" escape clause. What really bothers us is the fact that those receiving the payoffs are not desperate people-
they are often already saturated with material wellbeings. Religious ethics seemed to have been thrown to the wind.
Hahaha, it seemed that the substance of the poem is being discussed here rather that the form. I knew that few readers will care to talk about rhyme. rhythm and meters. Assalamualaikum.
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