Harvest in the Land of the Dead
In the land of the dead, at dawn
Dozens ride rowboats across the mint lake as fishers of men
With constant grins - for the lingcod, who swirls with unblinking eyes now in them
The mint green lake, reroutes itself to irrigate their soil
Grasped by loving bone hands that shape the soil
And rows move forth to till the soil
Great, swaying, skull faced oxen plough the red earth
Led by skeleton children playing their legs as flutes to enchant the beast
With scores of men and women without breath, arching xylophone spines as they sweat without envy for a bounty of their own
And calcium domes flake in the sun
The clocks have no hands
And children do not grow
The townsfolk observe their mating animals that grow and multiply with great fascination
Drinking moonshine, chewing betel leaf,
– and then rakes descend and pull and the fields are a whitish green and lanky figures bend towards the saffron, towards corn, towards wheat
–As a thousand scythes heave into heavens, the iron crescents bearing winks of light at the curve
And now it is the harvest!
Now it is done
Everything is complete
They are dancing as if on the surface of the sun
They are singing old molasses songs,
They make love.
This is a nation of the dead
And all who make up this nation
Will always love you
Ameer Azad is our current Poet-in-Residence. Every now and then we find a voice that sings (or screams) to us. Those voices that show us something new - whether beautiful or repulsive - voices from out there that somehow resonate deeply. Voices we just 'get'. When that happens we graciously ask that they join us for a time. To live and scream along with us.
You can learn more about Ameer, his work and voice in his fantastic interview here.
We also invite you to follow Ameer on Instagram by hitting the button below.
We're constantly on the look out for new artists, creatives and initiatives to feature in TheNeverZine - so if you are, or know someone who is going their own way and doing their own thing on their own terms and would be a good fit to feature please smash that button below and get in contact. By talking to each other, and sharing our journeys, ideas and insights on creativity, art, mental health and resilience we can all create, share and thrive together. Nice thought that.
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