Sunday, June 24, 2012

ON LANGUAGE ISOLATES

                                           
"Emancipation Songs"

for Vera Nondai'isiri


Each Sunday I wake up
to a bright morning
I celebrate with my God
these songs of emancipation

That I am no longer slave
to my own words, to my own songs
to each word I utter -
nor see myself as a language isolate
like a Kasunda
of rural west Nepal

My songs
are the aftermath songs
of emancipation
songs of celebrations eternal!

Who was that reggae priest
who sang, "Emancipate yourself
from mental slavery"?

My songs are free
My life is freedom
I am slave to none

From SAILING ON A BOUNTIFUL ARK, a forthcoming publication by The Anuki Country Press.
                                                            

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