NVN Sunday: Navalny — 3 Poems
“ IDENTIFYING CHRIST” by Joy Kreves; “NAVALNY, RAFAH” by Dana Yost; “NAVALNY: IS FREEDOM DEAD IN THE SIBERIAN GULAG?" by Mostofa Sarwar
IDENTIFYING CHRIST
by Joy Kreves
In his final speech in court before his latest conviction, Navalny quoted the Bible: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” —Yahoo! News, February 16, 2024
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No, Donald Trump is not America’s Navalny. —The Washington Post, February 16, 2024
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On the one hand a living carcass of a coward who leads the GOP by nose ring On the other the now dead Navalny who suffered then died for democracy for all One, belly expanded with the gaseous stench of mockery and hatred The other, thinned frame filled with wit and love and bravery Even a toddler could discern which is more Christ-like yet half of America remains confused
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Joy Kreves is a New Jersey artist/poet, member of DVP/US1 Poets. She has had work published in art exhibition catalogs and in WORKSHEETS Anthologies 2022 & 2023. She says, I still remember grade school lessons on The Golden Rule. We had to pledge allegiance to the flag of our country. These lessons were reinforced in Sunday School. I am baffled by the ability of so many to justify rude, dishonest, selfish and traitorous behavior. What were they taught as children
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NAVALNY, RAFAH
by dana yost
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burning cars. gas in the air. navalny dead. someone lights a cigarette. marley’s words. bottle of teeth on the vanity. navalny dead. arctic nights. while we stand aside and look. forgive them? not yet. pick at the meat with your squirmy fingers. roasted logs by the missouri. fog in daylight, doorways and dust. in rafah women and children are the real poets.
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Dana Yost was a journalist for 29 years and, still, sometimes, when news happens he can’t help but comment on events as they happen. He wrote the poem in lower case to try, in some way, a mode of protest or a bit of anarchy in response to too many strongmen and would-be strongmen. We have to speak against them.
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NAVALNY: IS FREEDOM DEAD IN THE SIBERIAN GULAG?
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by Mostofa Sarwar
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You grew up watching: Birds open “The Sky Gate” over the river Protva You, awakened by the dreams of chirping fieldfare and rock pigeon, seagull’s greetings from the Caspian Sea Dimensions, unbounded Bathing in photons and sucking light’s nectar, the birds whispered to you: Infinite freedom, unshackled Who knows? Those birds, perhaps, decoded the stars’ cryptic notes and then swam in the love wave of freedom Near the bank of the Dnieper by the reed forest, perhaps, you played with the sands perhaps, those tiny particles, the river carried as loads, ended up, with your touch, in the carnival of endless water This gloomy morning, I read, you are dead in the “Polar Wolf,” a Siberian Gulag An absurd tyrant pierced your body with poisoned knives It could be a rumor Could it be? Are you dead? I saw you by the lake next to my home You lead a demonstration of seagulls, grasshoppers, doves, and egrets I heard the slogan Freedom and freedom and freedom Nothing but the freedom It echoed through the universe
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Dr. Mostofa Sarwar is professor emeritus and former associate provost at the University of New Orleans, dean and ex-vice-chancellor and provost of Delgado Community College. His opinion essays were published in The Daily Star and Bdnews24.com of Bangladesh, The Strait Times of Singapore, The Statesman of India, Phuket News of Thailand, The Times Picayune of New Orleans, The Advocate of Baton Rouge, The Acadiana Advocate of Lafayette, The Daily Advent and The Opera News of New York. Recently, his English poetry has appeared in Sangam literary magazine, The Seattle Star magazine, New Verse Newsonline literary journal, and other publications, and has been nominated for Pushcart. Sarwar published three books of Bengali poems. He frequently participates in Bengali talk shows at cable TV channels (broadcast out of New York, Washington, DC, and Dhaka).