Michael, your curation is a drumline for the throat. Poems as voltage, speech as duty before the censors arrive with velvet gloves. I hear the old prophets in your pages and the new ones breaking open the room; when language carries risk, saying the truth becomes a form of shelter. From exile I’ve learned this: a voice that trembles still moves the world an inch, and in dark seasons an inch is a revolution.
This is the age of fascist dictators and it could get a lot worse if people are too compliant now and don't speak out regarding all the crimes against humanity that are now being committed on a daily basis.
A friend of mine warned recently about the dangers of remaining silent when witnessing almost unspeakable crimes and atrocities. She said that silence is not nothing. Far from it - it is either a form of submission, or else a form of cowardly consent. So better by far to speak, to say what must be said.
Mike, I returned to this page, this post, to read more of it and I was pleased to find Elham here. She may not know this, but she is the friend I was speaking of in my first comment. Elham is from Iran and she is living and writing in exile in Holland. In my humble opinion, she is a terrific writer. What I've seen by her so far is mainly prose, but I remember one poem that I thought was excellent, called "The Moment I Begin to Grieve." I think you should invite her to make a submission to the HyperTexts and to include that poem.
Michael, your curation is a drumline for the throat. Poems as voltage, speech as duty before the censors arrive with velvet gloves. I hear the old prophets in your pages and the new ones breaking open the room; when language carries risk, saying the truth becomes a form of shelter. From exile I’ve learned this: a voice that trembles still moves the world an inch, and in dark seasons an inch is a revolution.
Where are you exiled from?
My mentors include poets who strike me as prophets, such as William Blake, Walt Whitman, Sappho, Tagore, Rumi, Hafez and Darwish.
Not to mention Netanyahu.
This is the age of fascist dictators and it could get a lot worse if people are too compliant now and don't speak out regarding all the crimes against humanity that are now being committed on a daily basis.
Yes, I shouldn't leave Bibi the Butcher out of the fascist roll.
A friend of mine warned recently about the dangers of remaining silent when witnessing almost unspeakable crimes and atrocities. She said that silence is not nothing. Far from it - it is either a form of submission, or else a form of cowardly consent. So better by far to speak, to say what must be said.
SPEAK!
by Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Speak, while your lips are still free.
Speak, while your tongue remains yours.
Speak, while you’re still standing upright.
Speak, while your spirit has force.
See how, in the bright-sparking forge,
cunning flames set dull ingots aglow
as the padlocks release their clenched grip
on the severed chains hissing below.
Speak, in this last brief hour,
before the bold tongue lies dead.
Speak, while the truth can be spoken.
Say what must yet be said.
Yes, we need to use our freedom of speech while we still have it, in the age of Putin and Trump.
Mike, I returned to this page, this post, to read more of it and I was pleased to find Elham here. She may not know this, but she is the friend I was speaking of in my first comment. Elham is from Iran and she is living and writing in exile in Holland. In my humble opinion, she is a terrific writer. What I've seen by her so far is mainly prose, but I remember one poem that I thought was excellent, called "The Moment I Begin to Grieve." I think you should invite her to make a submission to the HyperTexts and to include that poem.
I was thinking the same thing, about asking for a submission.
If it's okay with you I'll contact her and give her your email. I really think she has something special and you know I rarely recommend anyone.
I agree.
I've already invited Elham to submit, if she sees my post, but it can't hurt to issue your own invitation in case she doesn't.
It's fine to give my email address to worthy poets.