Sinned
I have Sind, wrote Clive when he conquered that once free city.
Who is the sinner in our time and place? A man who follows?
A woman who turns away from the petition? A student who writes
a complaint without signature about another student
and his views about a movement from river to sea?
Who will write the history? Who dares
to claim a divine right a blessing
stopping the landing of the teeming
sea creatures on the Keys?
Red Hat Rockabilly
Come on child, let’s rock and bob this baby out of the cradle. Let’s
define and redefine the reach and overreach of government
arms. Bring them back. Let the states decide and fend
for themselves. We are the states after all, fabled
from sea to sea. Let’s get our wits about us.
Nobody can predict the flash flood.
Damn meteorologists drain our dollars.
Send them away. Let rivers and rain
have their say. God bless America.
God protect us from the storm.
Indran Amirthanayagam is a poet, editor, publisher, translator, youtube host and diplomat. He is the author of 30 books and translations. For thirty years he worked for his adoptive country, the United States, on diplomatic assignments in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. Amirthanayagam produced a unique record in 2020 publishing three poetry collections written in three different languages. He writes in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. He has published twenty eight poetry books and translations. In music, he recorded Rankont Dout. He edits the Beltway Poetry Quarterly (www.beltwaypoetry.com); writes https://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com; writes a weekly poem for Haiti en Marche and El Acento; has received fellowships from the Foundation for the Contemporary Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The US/Mexico Fund for Culture and the Macdowell Colony. He is the 2025 Matwaala Poet of Honor. He is also the IFLAC Word Poeta Mundial 2022.
Amirthanayagam writes indranmx.substack.com, hosts The Poetry Channel https://youtube.com/user/indranam. New books and translations include Seer, The Runner’s Almanac, Animal For The Eyes and Powèt nan po la (Poet of the Port ) Indran publishes poetry books at Beltway Editions (www.beltwayeditions.com). Amirthanayagam’s first collection in Portuguese Música subterranea just appeared from Editora Kotter in Brazil