The Allen Ginsberg Project: Allen in Peru 1960

The Allen Ginsberg Project: Allen in Peru 1960: Beat scholarship - Pedro Casusol Tapias '  " Visiones Divinas (Divine Visions) - Allen Ginsberg’s Peruvian Trip" , an illum...

Words After September 11

        WORDS AFTER SEPTEMBER 11

We will not be quiet, Lord.

We will not hide in books,

Under our desks, Lord.

We will not whisper

In the rowdy street.

We will hop

On our “three-wheelers,”

On the Morning Express,

Wheel up the ramp

And fly  beyond

The limits

Of our comforts.

We will explore again,

And find ourselves

Lost again.  Yet,

We shall hold our hands.

Yet, we shall love

Our neighbor.

Yet, we shall stand

On our dad

And mum’s shoulders,

And we will play yet again.

Let us now honor our dead,

The Earth’s dead.

Let us not tremble.

Let us not be quiet.

Let us not stammer

Through a million

Emergency sessions.

Let us talk

To the bird in the tree,

The bird in the sky.

Let us sing as a flock,

In congregation.

We will

        and shall

And can

        and must not

Be overcome.

Let us walk out tonight,

Tomorrow, and sing

We will

        and shall

And can

        and must

Not be overcome.

Let us go to the films

On Saturday,

To worship any day

We wish.

Let not these burning towers

Be our metaphor.

Let us honor our dead, yes,

And let us build and rebuild

Our metaphors.

-- Indran Amirthanayagam  c)2001  Chennai, India, September 27, 2001

Uncivil War

New Release www.tsarbooks.com

For interview, review & media requests: inquiries@tsarbooks.com Uncivil War Indran Amirthanayagam   Passionate, committed, and deeply humane, these poems bear witness with unflinching honesty to the horrific violence of the Sri Lankan civil war.   “Indran Amirthanayagam is above all the poet of the bloody Sri Lankan conflict and division. His work honours the sufferings of the living and the injustices dealt the dead, and for any reader, as good poetry always does, it speaks for itself, for humanity in general, and rings with its own universal authenticity and grace.” —Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s Ark   “This Uncivil War of Indran Amirthanayagam is a personal bloodletting, an exorcism--a blind, brute belief that writing the horror down will keep it under control, corralled, digestible. This is poetry that breaks down barriers of decorum, of art written for mere sensual pleasure. Yet there is a haunting lilt in the lyric voice of this poet. He delves into bitter subjects and finds tunes unbearably beautiful. He has gone into exile, and he says: Let us remember paradise.” —Adam Zameenzad, author of Cyrus, Cyrus   “...This is a Cosmos of a book. Indran Amirthanayagam is the true heir of Neruda in our time.” —Jaime Manrique, author of Our Lives Are The Rivers   “You may never go to Sri Lanka, but if you are a student of the human condition, as all poets must be, then Uncivil War should be required reading. What is a poem to a country torn apart by civil war, by tsunami, by the myriad ways people can bring harm to other people? These poems possess the courage to imagine a different ending, the courage to speak out against brutality; it is the courage of empathy.” —Rachel Rose, author of Song and Spectacle   Indran Amirthanayagam writes poetry and essays in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. His works include The Splintered Face, Ceylon R.I.P., El Infierno de Los Pájaros, El Hombre que Recoge Nidos, Sol Camuflado, La Pelota del Pulpo and The Elephants of Reckoning, which won the 1994 Paterson Poetry Prize.  His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and journals throughout the world.  He has also published translations of Mexican poets Manuel Ulacia and Jose Eugenio Sanchez.  He is a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. He writes a blog on poetry athttp://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com.   Poetry Paperback $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-927494-23-3 Order Uncivil War at www.tsarbooks.com     For more information on this and other TSAR titles, visitwww.tsarbooks.com

DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA AND IN THE US by University of Toronto Press Inc. 5201 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario, M3H 5T8 Phone: 1-800-565-9523 or (416) 667-7791 Fax: 1-800-221-9985 or (416) 667-7832 E-mail: utpbooks@utpress.utoronto.ca Also DISTRIBUTED IN THE US by

Face Off, a poem,

Face Off

I am tired, my friends too.

Shall we stop the clock,

the writing fool his dance,

move to the Moon

and beyond, sing for supper

in some indigenous tongue

that will disappear

from the planet’s face?

Must be the only rule

for this rueful sojourn:

we will not know

if our children choose

to tread on our bones,

or erect them into columns

and arches. For the rest,

spared of progeny, there is

no guilt or obligation. Just

finish tasks in the planner,

and go off radar, absent

from view on Facebook.

            Indran Amirthanayagam, April 4, 2013  c) 3013 Indran Amirthanayagam

EL DIA SIGUIENTE

          El día siguiente

Renacerás en un instante,

de un día para otro,

aún si has fumado

una media cajetilla

y la panza ha crecido

a causa de vinos crudos

y pesados. La luz

llegará siempre

a los que quieren ver,

y se sienten dispuestos

a amar, a pesar

de la mala racha,

del torbellino. Va

y viene, no circula

por elección humana.

Hay que construir bien

la casa, con válvulas

de escape, poner

ropa floja que

no te aten,

que te dejen respirar

y el amor se dará

cuenta e se infiltrará

a través de un bolsillo.

            Indran Amirthanayagam, el 3 de febrero, dr) 2013