Poems | Avner Pariat

Photo Credits : Avner Pariat

Solanum/Sohngang

Drunk, old men watch silently as the chief minister's motorcade
rushes past everyone else, quite rudely.
I watch the drunk, old men.
I see into the future.
I swallow a dry, bitter fruit.                  


The Politics That Make a Hive

Put it out of your mind
Cause there are pills for it:
Hope it won't come to that

Put it out of your mind
Cause we say it is, and it is:
But there's no need yet

Put it out of your mind
Cause it's your own fault:
The trick is to keep busy

Put it out of your mind
Everyone feels that way:
So there's no need to act


Monkey Poems

Hanuman is a JCB carrying away mountain wealth.
What did the tribes have to say to that?
Another outsider, eying out benefits.
We did not know about the War or Empire-building.


They smile at you through TV screens
And you’re not supposed to hate them
Because they’re just mischievous monkey-men:
It is their way - licking lips,
Thrusting pelvises, hooting ape-dance.


In cultures, the world over,
The Monkey King is still up to his old tricks:
In the quiet by-lanes, abandoned industrial estates,
Ordinary houses, parks, inside moving cars and buses.

Photo Credits : Avner Pariat

Look East

Look East but not for the sake of nation or Delhi;
Look East but not if this highway takes away your health;
Look East but not for the sake of anything but your village;
Look East but not if this highway brings dust and drunk driving;
Look East but not if this highway brings middlemen and murder;
Look East but not for the sake of companies or tycoons;
Look East but not if this highway takes from you, your rice fields;
If these should happen: look west, look south, look north,
Look anywhere but east