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Monthly Archives: May 2015

“Even the Rain” – Poem by Agha Shahid Ali

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Poetry

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

“Even the Rain” by Agha Shahid Ali, Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals by Agha Shahid Ali, Ghazal poetic form, Kashmiri-American Poet Agha Shahid Ali, Purple Rain by American Photographer Adam Rose, Symbolism of Rain

Purple Rain - Photography by Adam Rose

Purple Rain – California Collection – 11 x 14 matted
Adam Rose Photography

My Poetry Corner June 2015 features the poem “Even the Rain” by Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001). This poem is part of his final poetry collection, Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals, published posthumously in 2003, following his death from brain cancer in December 2001.

The ghazal, a Persian poetic form, is five or more thematically unrelated couplets connected through rhyme and repetition. The opening couplet sets up the scheme of rhyme and refrain by having it occur in both lines. The rhyme immediately precedes the refrain. In the following couplets, this scheme of rhyme and refrain only occurs in the second line. The last couplet names the poet directly in the second or third person.

Ali’s opening couplet in “Even the Rain” sets up the refrain, even the rain, and the rhyme (preceding the refrain) knot and bought for the following twelve couplets.

What will suffice for a true-love knot? Even the rain?
But he has bought grief’s lottery, bought even the rain.

Ali’s first thought is the grief of a lost love. As he shared in an interview: “At a personal level the rain brings so much memory back to me, especially of some very important love relationships I have had.”
Continue reading →

Climate Disruption: Thought of the Week

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Anthropogenic Climate Disruption

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Climate Change, Climate disruption, Ripasso Energy, Solar Energy

Ripasso Energy Solar Electricity System

Ripasso 100-square-meter mirror dishes
Testing in Kalahari Desert – South Africa
Photo Credit: Ripasso Energy

World’s Most Efficient Solar Electricity System?

In South Africa’s Kalahari desert, Swedish company Ripasso Energy is testing its new small-scale concentrated solar energy system which directly converts 32% of the sun’s energy hitting the mirrors to grid-available electric power, compared to roughly half that for standard solar panels.
~ Could this be the world’s most efficient solar electricity system? by Jeffrey Barbee, The Guardian, 13 May 2015.

Guyana Independence Day 2015: A New Beginning

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Guyana

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Guyana Independence Day, Guyana Politics, Guyana President David Granger, National Unity, New Beginnings

Dawn on the Rupununi River - Southern Guyana

Dawn on the Rupununi River – Southern Guyana
Photo Credit: Dagron Tours

On May 26, 2015, the people of Guyana will be celebrating their forty-ninth independence anniversary under the new leadership of a multiracial coalition government. After forty-nine years of racial divisive politics, the nation embarks on a new beginning of a more inclusive government.

At the recent swearing-in of eight Cabinet Ministers, Guyana’s newly-elected President David Granger told those present: “We are determined to bring good governance back to Guyana. We are determined to have a Cabinet which is committed to National Unity.”

As with several new beginnings, expectations run wild; dreams hang within reach like ripening fruit on a mango tree; hope is born anew.

Those of us who have entered adult life and have already experienced new beginnings as a married couple and as newbie parents know the challenges each new beginning brings to our lives. Empty nesters face yet another new beginning as a couple alone with each other after years of child-rearing.

Those of us who have been freed from an abusive relationship know that it takes years for the scars to heal and begin life anew. Some of us never heal and continue to carry the abuser – long after he’s dead and gone – chained to our ankles, poisoning our children and grandchildren who unwittingly drink our Kool-Aid. Those who refuse to drink our cyanide-laced brew suffer alienation or ostracism.

After forty-nine years of abuse and deprivations perpetrated by both the African and East Indian political parties, healing and working towards national unity is a tall order. It will take time. Change at the top comes from change below, with each individual. Freeing ourselves from the chains of mistrust, fear, and hatred requires courage, openness, acceptance, and a willingness to forgive.

Forgiveness is not forgetfulness. We must acknowledge the sins of the past. We must not forget, lest we fall prey to them again.

Changing the way we relate to each other is a daily and ongoing struggle. Believing that we can achieve the change we seek is the first step to realizing our goal. The people of Guyana who voted for change have already taken that first step. Winning the minds and hearts of those who don’t want change or who don’t believe that change is possible may take another forty-nine years or more.

New beginnings are fraught with naysayers – those who like to put their bad-mouth on every effort we make – and those with big-eye who want everything for themselves.

With just a little over a week since the new president was sworn in, a member of his six-party coalition has already aired his discontent with the president’s agenda.

Meanwhile, still refusing to accept defeat at the polls, the opposition is planning countrywide protests and compiling evidence to file an election petition challenging recent poll results.

It’s a New Day in Guyana. Now is the time. Believe.

A Happy Independence Day to all Guyanese at home and in the Diaspora!

Climate Disruption: Thought of the Week

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Anthropogenic Climate Disruption

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Caribbean Climate Change Summit 2015, Climate Change, Climate disruption, Nature & Environment, Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

Caribbean Climate Change Summit - Martinique - 8 May 2015

Caribbean Climate Change Summit – Martinique – 8 May 2015
Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie addressing Summit
Photo Credit: Caribbean News Now!

Caribbean Leaders Sign Off on Climate Change Declaration

“We remain convinced that the global goal of limiting average temperature increase to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels is inadequate for protecting fragile ecosystems in SIDS [Small Island Developing States] from the adverse impacts of climate change, and that a target rate lower than 1.5°C would be more appropriate…”
~ Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Chairman of the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Caribbean Climate Change Summit, Fort de France, Martinique, 8 May 2015.

Guyana Elections 2015: Outgoing President Refused to Concede Defeat

17 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Guyana

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Guyana Elections 2015, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Guyana Executive President David Arthur Granger, Guyana Politics, Guyana Prime Minister Elect Moses Nagamootoo, The 99 Percent

Executive President David Arthur Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo - Guyana Elections 2015

Executive President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo
Guyana Elections 2015
Photo Credit: Guyana Graphic

On Monday, 11 May 2015, the people of Guyana went to the polls to elect a new president and government. The following days were tense and frustrating for me as the ruling party refused to release the preliminary results, claiming irregularities in the electoral process – which, by the way, was conducted under their control – and demanded a full recount of the ballots.

With the nation in limbo awaiting results, Heads of Mission of the American, British, and Canadian diplomatic community in Guyana, joined by Guyana’s Private Sector Commission, issued a public declaration asserting that the alleged irregularities were unfounded and calling the elections “free and fair.”

On Friday, two days later, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Guyana supported the position of the ABC Heads of Mission and called on all political parties involved to address “any possible grievance through the channels established by the law.”

Finally, on Saturday, I could breathe again. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) released the elections results: The multi-ethnic six-party coalition has won the elections with a narrow margin of 4,506 votes, giving them 33 seats of the 65 seats in the National Assembly. Retired Brigadier General David Arthur Granger is now Guyana’s eighth Executive President; Moses Nagamootoo is the Prime Minister Elect.

I should be jubilant. Together with 50.55 percent of the electorate, young Guyanese turned out to vote for an end to racial politics and work towards national unity and equality for all. But, in power since 1992, the incumbent party’s refusal to concede defeat has left me uneasy. Is this due to arrogance, entitlement, delusion, or power drunkenness?

Their refusal to concede defeat intimates to their majority East Indian supporters that the newly-elected government is illegitimate and will not have their interests at heart.

How will their stance affect the work of the newly-elected government in forging national unity and ending inequality among Guyanese of all ethnicities?

The road ahead for the people of Guyana will not be easy. Much needs to be done to bring about real change. Victory at the polls must be fought for each and every day going forward.

I cried with joy the day America elected its first black president. Today, over six years later, the struggle for real change for the 99 Percent continues.

No rest for the weary.

Climate Disruption – Thought of the Week

13 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Anthropogenic Climate Disruption

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Climate Change, Climate disruption, Lungs of our planet, Nature & Environment, Severe drought and tree death

Satellite Photo of the Amazon Rainforest - 31 July 2011

Satellite Photo of the Amazon Rainforest – July 31, 2011
Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Lungs of Our Planet are Dying

“Tropical rainforests have been popularly thought of as the “lungs” of the planet. Here, we show for the first time that during severe drought, the rate at which they “inhale” carbon through photosynthesis can decrease. This decreased uptake of carbon does not decrease growth rates but does mean an increase in tree deaths…”
~ Dr. Christopher Doughty, Lead Author of Research Paper “Drought impact on forest carbon dynamics and fluxes in Amazonia,” University of Oxford, UK.

Mothers Can Be Complicated

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Family Life, Human Behavior, Relationships

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Mother and Daughter Relationship, Mother’s Day, motherhood

Mother and Daughter - Abstract Painting by Marie Jamieson

Abstract Painting – Mother and Daughter – Ink on Heavy Paper
By Marie Jamieson

On this day in the United States and in some countries around the world, as we honor our mothers, I have to admit that mothers can be complicated. Happy the woman who has a loving relationship with her mother! I did once…before our thirty-year separation.

My mother migrated to the United States. I stayed behind in Guyana, got married, became a mother of two, and later migrated to Brazil. My mother and I became different individuals. Our values and priorities in life diverged. Continue reading →

Climate Disruption: Thought of the Week

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Anthropogenic Climate Disruption

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Climate Change, Climate disruption, Landmark Dutch Climate Lawsuit, Nature & Environment, Urgenda Climate Case

Dutch government sued for climate action failure

Dutch government sued for climate action failure
Photo Credit: Urgenda, Netherlands

Landmark Dutch Lawsuit: The Urgenda Climate Case

The Urgenda Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Dutch Government for not taking sufficient measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause dangerous climate change. The Urgenda Climate Case is the first case in Europe in which citizens attempt to hold a state responsible for its potentially devastating inaction.
~ The Urgenda Foundation, Netherlands

“In the Waters of Time” – Poetry by Brazilian Poet Flora Egídio Thomé

03 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Brazil, Poetry

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

“In the Waters of Time”, “Nas Águas do Tempo”, Brazilian Poet Flora Egídio Thomé, Haiku poetry, Justice for Freddie Gray, Mato Grosso do Sul/Brazil, Police brutality

Justice for Freddie Gray - Baltimore - USA

Justice for Freddie Gray – Victim of Police Brutality – Baltimore/USA – April 2015
Source: Common Dreams (Photo courtesy of Ryan Harvey)

As yet another African-American community erupts in the face of police brutality, I offer the poetic wisdom of Brazilian educator and poet, Flora Egídio Thomé (1930-2014). In my Poetry Corner May 2015, I feature six Haiku poems from her collection In the Waters of Time (Nas Águas do Tempo), published in 2002.

The title of her collection alludes to the fluidity of time.

Born in times of water
in the waters of time I am…
drifting alone.

Water gives life to our planet. The oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface. Even our bodies are composed of water: 60 percent in adult men and 55 percent in adult women. Because of this life-giving water, we exist and experience time.
Continue reading →

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