Desire of Illusory Social Friendship

What it takes to make life interesting,
I wonder.
What it takes to make life more acceptable,
I wonder.
What it takes to make life more social,
I wonder.

I bemuse why so many of us are always
in rush toward achieving--
Achieving something that we don't know
what it is.
May be a little comfort of our social
acquaintances' weekend company!
May be a rare complement from
one of our best buddies!

I wonder why we forget to cherish
the happiness of being myself, and
instead, rush toward satisfying
the desire of illusory social friendship.

Welcoming Call of the Windy City

Peering through the glass window
of Willis Tower,
feel awestruck by the beauty of azure sky far
in the east kissing the heart of Lake Michigan
as if white flakes of cloud are extending their wings
all over the vast expanse to put
a lid on foamy waters of the Great Lake.

Looking from the sky-deck of the tallest tower
of the city's landscape, stand marveled by the City of
Chicago melting into shores of Lake Michigan
on the east with blossoming greens jutting along the shoreline.
Three brown contiguous buildings of Chicago Hilton
that look like Lego structures adorn the north-south
artery of Michigan Avenue.

Grazing south of the Windy City,
relish the mish-mash of train tracks, roads, iconic
structures, architectural wonders and greeneries putting
a blended paint of cultural and industrial mix that
has made this city a hub of industrious success
with the freshness of a deep cultural sensibilities.

As the Sun slowly sets in the western horizon,
see the multitude of tiny cars clogging the
veins and arteries that branch out of city core
to numerous directions, and
I hear the welcoming call of the
Windy City to anyone who is returning, or
stepping for the first time, to its doorstep tomorrow.

Victor Jara: A Voice against Oppression

Victor Jara--
a rebel, a poet, a rabble-rouser,
a mass leader, a lyricist,
and a humanist--
lives forever in the hearts of
millions of progressives, and
remains a symbol of defiance
against repressive regimes wherever they are.

Dozens of bullets that pierced his body
stole Victor from us, cut short a life
that could pen so many more poems, illuminate
so many more lives and inspire so many
more people, but those bullets fired by
Pinochet henchmen were not able
to silence the voice of rebellion
against a ruthless dictator.

Victor lives amongst us as
a legend revolutionary,
as a beacon of truth,
a silent bearer of the torch
of emancipation for the mankind,
a poet for the Kingdom of toiling masses.

Extinguishing the Peace of the People

In the darkness of a summer night,
the sleepy West Bank town of Duma
wakes up with the deafening sound
of a firebomb.

In a matter of minutes,
the Dawabsheh family home
erupts in a swirl of fire,
lighting up the sky over Duma.
Inside, the dream of a little
toddler, named Ali--
who is yet to see the beauty of the world,
smell the flowers of orchid,
ramble with would-be friends,
take a walk with his elder brother,
Ahmed, in the alleyway of
the Palestinian town, and,
hopefully, grow up loving the
brotherhood between Palestinians and Jews
in a two-state nation--
is extinguished, and so is
the peace of the people of
the Holy Land.