Who’s counting?
A hundred was a nice round number,
like a nice crisp note,
the age your grandfather was
back home,
or the stars you saw
in a clouded sky,
not at all like
the hundreds who mourn a teen
or the hundred children a day
killed by a very moral silence.
Though we have written hundreds
and hundreds
of letters,
of poems,
to the day all this will count,
these will never amount
to those who count
who fled the land
dreamed of river and sea:
NO to neighbors,
NO to patriots,
NO to the dead, kidnapped, the maimed,
NO to the world.
Will it be peace then?
Is that peace then?
counted, accounted, not discounted.
Yeah, let’s count on that.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
STRIDE
—A threat modeling program
STRIDE
It examines a system’s design, keeps it
safe from threats,
(because they always exist)
STRIDE
It finds threats for each element,
every interaction,
(because everything is suspicious)
STRIDE
It draws trust boundaries for tribes,
for the chosen few,
(because the others soon will be dust)
STRIDE
It asks questions like: Who can attack whom,
with the same answer,
(because the answer is us)
the threats always lead
over the promise of contact,
the threats always seed
fury, walls of fire
on every city
on every ordinary limb
the threat modeled is always the same
for the system software centric:
soft human child.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Useless Inventory
In my first job I was a girl Friday
to a very important man
who labeled seeds as such and such
from the north, the south, the couth,
the uncouth,
it was there I learned
to do an important job
I labeled words as such and crutch
from the west, the rest,
the middle of the Asian west,
It is late here but I’d like
to show important gems to you
what little we have as such and much
from languages three:
English, Spanish and Hindi,
In English:
legal killing of a child
it happens
regrets
investigations
bombing
strikes
shelters
concessions
conclusions
silence,
See how each one shines and glows!
In Spanish:
bombardeo
zonas seguras
lamento
daño colateral
los “animales humanos”
munición
campamentos
confesión
trágico
Inteligencia precisa
¡Miren cómo brillan estas joyas!
Further afield, but close to me:
Malbe (rubble)
Bambari(bombardment)
Afsos (regret)
Jaari (continuing)
Bacche (children).
Gazab chamakte hain iss andheri raat mein!
And the biggest sparkler of them all:
poems standing in for children.
Two Gazan Women
How many poems walk beside mine
stroll the streets half-awake,
pushing their way all day
bombed out by the news,
blown away by two women
tuned to each other
her breath a metallic groan,
drywall clouds, chunks of flesh,
everyday dust,
the other’s eyes squint against the light,
she craves only the nights
dark olive, strawberry dawns
they have no words
for the pin undone
seconds before the blast
we have no words
for pain, outdone
dead as the past.
Radhika Yeddanapudi is an Indian poet and translator based in Vancouver, Canada.