PREFACE

STOP RACISM
We wish all our readers, members, writers and poets a happy and peaceful world to live in. THE ANTHOLOGY of Poetry for Unity against Racism is now online. In this special issue we are focusing on RACISM to lend our individual voice for promoting world peace, prosperity and unity of mankind. Let us speak out against racism, violence, blood bath, and for peace prosperity and harmony among different cultures, religions, race, and nationalities to make this world a better place for our future generations.

We think it is also the moral responsibility of poets and writers alike to put their protest, agony, pain and sufferings in words against any racist attitude, inherent belief and direct or indirect activities of discriminations among various races which ends up in violence and hatred of one community by other.  The hatred of one person or community by another or the belief that another person or community is less than human because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any other factors that supposedly reveal the basic nature of that person or community is racism, which has influenced wars, and slavery down the history.

Racism disempowers people by devaluing their identity. It is destructive in its inherent nature which destroys community cohesion and creates divisions in society. It is the opposite of the democratic principle of equality and the right of all people to be treated fairly. Racism is a global phenomenon which is influenced by a range of historical, social, political and economic factors. It takes different forms in different contexts. Racist attitudes and beliefs are misconceptions about people based on perceived racial lines and are often founded on the fear of difference, including differences in customs, values, religion, physical appearance and ways of living and viewing the world. Racism is the result of a complex interplay of individual attitudes, social values and institutional practices. It is expressed in the actions of individuals and institutions and is promoted in the ideology of popular culture. It changes its form in response to social change.

Many political and social institutions, organizations or governments also discriminate, either deliberately or indirectly, against certain groups of people to limit their rights. This form of institutional racism reflects the cultural assumptions of the dominant group, so that the practices of that group are seen as the norm to which other cultural practices should conform. This form of racial attitudes and everyday practices regularly and systematically advantages some ethnic and cultural groups and disadvantages and marginalizes others. Institutional racism is often the most difficult to recognize and counter, particularly when it is perpetrated by institutions and governments who do not view themselves as racist.

So this is the moment to shift our focus from mere literary work to use literature to voice our individual protests in a collective manner. No, this is not a political debate for us. We are only concerned with the unity and prosperity of human beings everywhere irrespective of their cast and religion, race and nationality, beliefs and doubts, language and culture. This is the time we thought OUR POETRY ARCHIVE should come out with this special number focusing these issues and addressing the world in poetry for peace against hatred and racist attitude. And we are glad; we have got a huge response from the literary communities all around the world.

We are also happy to announce that our friends and members around the world have contributed their time and provided suggestions, guidance and strong support to make this special edition possible. Our thanks goes to all the members, poets and friends who were directly involved in this collective project. This edition really belongs to them. Without their support and contributions we couldn’t have made it possible.

We invite everyone to visit this edition and share it with your friends and families. We would also like to request our readers to provide us with your valued feedback so that we can carry on with our journey improving OUR POETRY ARCHIVE in a continuous manner.

Thank You All.

Our Poetry Archive
OPA

A
WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB
PRESENTATION!

PUBLISHED BY

OPA

OUR
POETRY ARCHIVE
ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL

email us to:

******************************************



EDITORIAL

Against Racism And Discrimination.


In front of social and single behaviors that appear irrational we have always to wonder what are the reasons behind which gave them rise, look for the root causes to correct, eradicate them. From the sociological point of view, racist behaviors, apparently generally rejected, are largely widespread in all societies although in different forms and manifestations. What we generally term as racism is not just a sort of racial exclusion because within the same ethnic group there can be different forms of discriminations by gender and social class.  Scientific research in the field of psychology and sociology indicates that racism and prejudices are still among the major problems our society faces. Though racism has deep psychological motives and processes involved, a number of published studies have demonstrated that people use prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviors to boast their own self esteem. Humans are social creatures that feel safer being part of a group and like to see their group as important and significant, so if someone is noticeably different they hold negative attitudes.

It has also been argued that prejudice and racism in particular may be driven, in part, by basic survival motives. Humans evolved as a species that thrives in groups, and groups compete over scarce resources.  We do not have to look back at our ancestors to see this in practice. Even today, nations and groups within nations fight over access to limited resources.  Therefore, one cause of racism may be an innate proclivity towards group conflict in the service of resource acquisition. Of course, this is extremely problematic in a modern interconnected world. However, we must strive to have belief systems that reject what may be a natural inclination not to trust or hold negative attitudes about people who don’t belong to the same group.

One of the most common reason leading to discrimination is due to the diversity   of the skin colors, that’s of a different pigmentation, depending on the geographical distribution of UV radiations. So areas which receive higher amounts of UVR, generally located closer to the equator, tend to have  darker-skinned populations whereas  areas close to the poles  have lower intensity of UVR which is reflected in lighter skinned populations. Research also demonstrated that human populations can change from dark skinned to light skinned and vice versa as they migrate to different UV zones. In spite of that, many people fail to believe that race is not a biological category but an artificial classification of people with no scientific variable parts.

Evidently, all that was ignored by the Spanish and the English settlers of America.  And  today we can read  from the history book about the miserable  living conditions of the Blacks in their colonies.  The treatment of the slaves was brutal and degrading: shackling, mutilation, beating, and sexual abuses were common. But was racism against the Blacks just because of the diversity or also because the American colonists were in need of cheap labor for their cotton and tobacco plantations? Neither thesis can be excluded.  Man expresses the need to feel part of a group together with his attitude to take for him what he thinks to need.  Both things intertwine. And, was the termination of Jews during the Nazi regime because of their different religion  or just a political gimmick to realize the Hitlerian plan to conquer Europe? The very idea of racial cleansing, deportation, gas chambers, mass slaughters goes beyond all human understanding, and I wonder why the world has not been able to stop a man like Hitler, to recognize his madness in good time.

It is said that history is teacher of life that man learns from it, but if we simply turn our gaze around, we can realize that horrible things still happen. So, let’s think too of the many new-born babies in some Asian countries condemned to death if females.  Small defenseless human beings who are denied life: social behaviors that arouse awe and horror. I do not think they can fall within the  pure definition of  racism, but they are certainly the most brutal form of exclusion and discrimination, which would open the field to a long debate on the status of women, especially in some countries of the southern hemisphere. Discrimination practiced under the common roof!

Yes, of course the path of man on this planet is in eternal evolution and steps forward to a more harmonious way of life have been made; but the road is still long. Thousands of people continue to have an attitude of passive acceptance of the status quo, perhaps suffering abuses themselves because unaware of their human and social rights. Education, I believe, could play an important, crucial role. I mean education to the acceptance, respect for differences, integration. But we all witness the lack of  a serious reflection and commitment from the institutions responsible to it.

Then it becomes a duty on the part of the intellectuals, of those who hold the power of a wider knowledge and sensibility to awaken consciences to a more active and fair participation in the life I believe this is the primary objective of this anthology which sees poets from different countries, speaking different languages   united in a common spirit against racism and discrimination.

Maria Miraglia
From The Editorial Desk
OPA
A
WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB
PRESENTATION!

PUBLISHED BY

OPA

OUR
POETRY ARCHIVE
ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL

email us to:

******************************************


AGATA LINEK

AGATA LINEK

PARALYSIS
careful to the limits and non-limits
up to the end of existence and non-existence
we prefer to step back
just in case
to live usual life not to change anything
we live in illusion of time standing still
but it always brings us nearer to the end
of everything to nothing
and we, for this particle of time
perhaps given to us by a sheer chance
cells jointed together by a strange coincidence
we are afraid to live a life






YOU LOVE FOR NOTHING
a gentle touch after a misty day
a smile in the raindrops
a covering in a cold night
you don’t look fat in these trousers
wait, I will open the door for You
go for a walk - I will take care of the children now
an arm that will give support when he staggers on his cane
slippers brought under his feet
and short “I am still here”
you love for nothing
but what if for everything






MY LILY OF THE VALLEY
to Mum
 ‘cause I know
how to make coffee
how benign is the impact of green
how much washing powder should be used
how to use a dishcloth
and how to clean a bathtub really well
you have taught me
that the Sun wind and grass are priceless
that the family is precious
that upbringing means extreme responsibility
you made me respect each word
and another man
for
reading bed-time stories
consoling to sleep with lily of the valley scent
walking in the woods
sending me to theatre classes
and the faith that a rainbow comes after every storm
thank You
Aagta Linek
Polish: Lives In Poland

ALICIA MINJAREZ RAMIREZ

Alicia Minjarez
Ramírez

THE PATH OF YOUR STEPS

Naked and lurking 
tenderness
at the riverbank,
a kiss clinging on
as a vine
and climbing
through the sap
of my branches.

I spy on the night
in your thistles,
adjacent meridians
in the nectar
of your Nile.

Of  all your summers
emanate and disappear
crepuscular fragments,
frosts decorate
the melodic chant
of orioles
 
and blackbirds.

I invent you and lose you
in the zephyr choleric notes,
the sublime lightness
makes silence thunder up.

Dissolving my dawns
in the hustle of memory,
fire against the light
of the stranger and nubile
torso of your body.


You rain and crumble
over my fragrant touch,
blast that exalts
the sound of the stones
building up
my roads,
long gone
 
and desolated
landscapes
blooming today
behind your
own steps.

Translated by: Alaric Gutiérrez










TRAVELLER
Redemptive breeze
imprisons my space,
like raining stars
as fragrant words
at the crescent moon,
salt conspires about
your shooting and lasting
existence.

Blue air flutter about
your wet
vertices notes,
ascending
through 
the tree’s essence.
Guttural sounds
spotting
the horizon.

I sense you
among murmurs
of leaves
diluting
liquid shadows,


imaginary
pigeon’s pieces,
luminance music
of the dreams
we forge.

I find you,
wrong or right,
in haste;
in the rain’s
incessant voice.
Beautiful traveler
of dreamed steps
and arms of fire.

Drowned in
desire-scented steam
I dusk upon
foreign oaks,
as touch produced by
your path;
dark moor
of an old sky
reinvent
your word of light,
the illusory
copulation
of language.










IT RAINS…
A longing breeze
tries to show itself,
like nostalgia
migrating
up in the air.

Water permeates
my body.
Your breath
fills in
the context.

Longing secrets
that the wind
shakes up in the offing,
then nothingness.

I walk behind
upon the moisture
left by the drops
under the branches.

Birds get detached
from their nests,
looking for
the promised shelter.

Church bells ring,
outside
the night
interrupts.

I long to dry off
the rain,
like those birds
besetting


park trees
in the evening.          


The stillness of your eyes
invades me…
Ecstatic wings,
paralyzing their flight.
At my silence’s feet.

Translator:   Alaric  Gutiérrez

Author:
 Alicia  Minjarez  Ramírez
Tijuana Baja California, Mexico.