Political Poetry Quotes

“Thank You Republicans (The Sonnet)

Thank you republicans, for acting,
As the perfect example of primitivity.
Thank you republicans, for standing,
As the picture of unchristianity.
Thank you republicans, for behaving,
As the definition of new age terrorism.
Thank you for being the personification,
Of ignorance, prejudice and divisionism.
Thank you republicans, for serving,
As a sickening example of superstition.
Thank you for providing the lowest bar,
Against which we can measure human ascension.
Thanks for being everything a human must never be.
Thank you republicans, for demonstrating what is inhumanity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Divane Dynamite: Only truth in the cosmos is love

“Sonnet of Norms

It is not patriarchal to hold the door for a lady,
It is not cowardly to leave your seat to the elderly.
But it is barbaric to harass a breastfeeding mother,
And prehistoric to force a woman carry a pregnancy.
There are norms that nourish the societal fabric,
Then there are norms out of touch with age and times.
Beyond both freedom and obedience as a whole being,
You ought to realize where and how to draw the lines.
The problem is that most do not know when to rebel,
They rebel out of boredom to seek adventure not justice.
They commit reckless vandalism in the name of activism,
And feel proud while committing the most heinous deeds.
Norms require careful scrutiny, not headless rebellion.
Hence, quite often rebels become the new face of oppression.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Either Western or Human
(Undoing Westwash Sonnet)

When the Brits invade a country,
It's called the march of civilization.
When refugees arrive in search of life,
It's dehumanized as illegal immigration.

When America recruits talents from abroad,
It is proudly boasted as headhunting.
When another nation does exactly the same,
It is hailed as espionage and IP stealing.

When America spies on everybody else,
It is sugarcoated as national security.
If someone so much as loses a weather balloon,
It is used to gaslight a nation into a frenzy.

To see the world as it is, first
we gotta take off our western glasses.
Look at the human world with human eyes,
only then you'll fathom justice and progress.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Social Reform 101 (The Sonnet)

Brute force isn't always the answer,
Sometimes you gotta be clever.
Naivety has its place, it keeps you humble,
Dealing with hyenas you gotta be a dinosaur.
I am not talking about size and appearance,
Appearance never brings any lasting change.
Here I am talking about the faculties within,
For corruption is defeated only by a hearty brain.
The best way to control the manipulator is,
To give them the illusion of control 'n dominance.
To con the con-artist for the greater good,
Is not an act of con but an act of conscience.
Sentiment is good, but without wisdom it is plain stupid.
An activist fights the system, a reformer manipulates it.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Politics is The New Opium (The Sonnet)

I started writing on politics to impress a girl,
Then she left for a native white, balkan alternative.
But I was too deep in the pickle to leave politics,
Eventually the struggling nobody arose a global native.
Originally I was inclined towards writing on religion,
But soon I realized justice is the religion of tomorrow.
And the world's notion of religion is beyond repair,
Terms of religion lost their charm to me more and more.
Religion was the opium for the masses of yesterday,
Politics is opium for the masses of today.
But politics of pop culture is not what I work on,
My politics is not left or right, but mostly grey.
As a brain scientist, my work is to dissect human nature.
If it makes way for a better society, that's a great honor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Progress and partisanism don't go together,
Dollarism and sustainability don't go together.
Undisparity and materialism don't go together,
Secularism and superstition don't go together.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“State is a fiction that the citizens create,
Citizens are the truth that the state cannot fathom.
State is a dream, citizens are the dreamer.
The dream exists so long as the dreamer is asleep.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“State is a dream, citizens are the dreamer. The dream exists so long as the dreamer is asleep.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Representation is Degradation (The Sonnet)

Nationalism is but a precursor to fascism,
Representation is but a precursor to corruption.
Delegation is but a precursor to destitution,
Law-abidance is but a precursor to degradation.
Representation without accountability is just,
As undemocratic as taxation without representation.
Trading in one party for another is not change,
But merely the re-initiation of prehistoric division.
Democracy that shows no sign of nonpartisanism,
Is but a petri dish of prejudice most blinding.
Such a democracy stuck on representation,
Is but a silent dictatorship in the making.
Neither law nor party loyalty will elevate the society.
All my hope, therefore, lies upon civilian responsibility.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament

“Contrary to unwritten political law of abuse,
Civilians are not the doormats of democracy.
Civilians are the doors, civilians are the buildings,
Civilians are the whole of the social anatomy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Vandalism Ain't Activism (The Sonnet)

Systemic change is a slow and tedious process,
It doesn't happen overnight by vandalizing society.
If vandalism and activism were one and the same,
Our jungly ancestors would've been the ideal humanity.
Change habits, change yourself, submit to no primitivity,
The change that you dream of, be the epitome of that change.
Obstructing traffic and refusing to let an ambulance pass,
You're not fighting any crisis, but being a crisis yourself.
Go fly a kite, it is good for the mind as well as body,
Get lessons on common sense before appointing yourself king.
The line between activism and terrorism is so thin that,
Often many go astray without having the slightest inkling.
I repeat, systemic change is a slow and tedious process.
The more you rush with recklessness, the more you digress.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Civil Discourse (The Sonnet)

Be a friend to the just,
But a parent to the unjust.
There is no place for hate,
Restrain the hater, but do not hurt.
The paradigm of revolution needs reform,
We must make it grow out of cruelty,
For cruelty is not the cure for cruelty,
We must treat it with the light of sanity.
It is a sad state of affairs when,
Violence becomes a part of civil discourse.
How can we possibly call ourselves civilized,
If mere disagreement breaks out into violent uproars!
So I repeat, cruelty is not the answer to cruelty.
Work to destroy hate without destroying the human spirit.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mukemmel Musalman: Kafir Biraz, Peygamber Biraz

“Esperanza Impossible Sonnet 10

Nationality is not the trouble, real trouble is nationalism,
And nationalism is the super weapon in a politician's arsenal.
When nothing works, peddling nationalism works every time,
For insecure citizenry can't tell nationality from nationalism.
So in practice, all the wars of the world are caused by citizens,
But it feels good to blame the bad things on politicians.
Once the citizens grow up to not be swayed by nationalism,
No authoritarian nincompoop can make them dance.
Nationality is a tool, what it is not is a badge of supremacy,
Just like culture is a tool, and not a badge of authority.
If we must dance, let us dance to life, not to baseless fright,
If we must take a step, let's take a step towards humanity.
Borders exist to aid the functioning of the fabric of society.
They are not some olympian designation of your identity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“We mourn for old debts,
for we are tiny pebbles
in a shore of gluttons.”
― Lila Marquez, Line Breaker: A Collection of Poems

“If I Were Head of State (The Sonnet)

If I were the head of state,
my first act in government will be,
to dissolve the government,
and redistribute all powers of society,
to experts in their respective fields.

Civil servants and experts run a nation anyway,
While brainless politicians take all the credit.
Time to give credit and power where they're due,
Putting an end to the circus of representatives.

Instead of trading one incompetent fool for another,
We gotta rotate the civil servants office to office.
In a civilized democracy, civilians are the law,
Never you forget that, never let anyone forget it!

If I were the head of state, that is the end of state.
Dictatorships empower leaders, democracy empowers citizens.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Political Wildlife (The Sonnet)

Easiest way to study animal behavior
without going on safari, is to sit
in front of a political debate.
Political salesmen are ideal specimen
of wildlife in their natural habitat.

Listen to all the howling and screaming,
Listen to all the brainless twatter.
You shall learn a lot about the brutal wild,
By watching the cannibals devour each other.

In the world of political haftwits,
Politics is just "left and right" affair.
Where all left and right come to an end,
There begins actual human welfare.

Partisan world is a loveless world,
where popular truth is but a lie.
We don't need to lean left or right,
it is time, human heart spreads human-wide.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“The Peacock & The Eagle: Cleopatra's Entry Into Tarsus by Stewart Stafford

Cleopatra arrives, regal and mighty,
From ocean spray as Aphrodite,
Wealthy and waif, yearning for her,
Dared all to defy her possessive aura.

Mark Antony, struck by her sultry gaze,
Lepidus, prisoner in a bureaucrat's maze,
Sees power slipping from a friend’s hand,
Ensnared by a siren from a scorched land.

Lepidus was Caesar's trusted right hand;
A granule falling through hourglass sand,
Antony, headstrong military provocateur;
Funeral orator from bloody crown auteur.

Bargain's scorpion pincers; no longer twain:
Cleopatra was Ceres, promising Rome grain,
Antony was Mars' armed emissary,
Business and pleasure's flood tributary.

Antony: "Barge of emerald, Elysium's onyx!
Beyond counsel words of sage sardonic,
Gliding the Cydnus's silken seam,
This Nile Helen shall be my queen."

Lepidus: "Pleasure vessel of a floating whore,
Yours for a sesterce on the Tiber's shore,
Honour your oath, noble Roman creed,
Lest passion’s shipwreck sets out to sea.”

"This Venus virago on her mirage barge;
Serpent prow, silver oars, rhythmic charge!
What hubris to think she can equal,
The bloody talons of our Roman eagle!"

Antony: "Feast your eyes past peacock's bower,
She speaks Rome's tongue of naked power.
Mark it, that obsidian Sphinx stings -
Human head, lion's body, eagle wings!

"That is the form she takes to the public:
I smell a perfumed alliance for the Republic!
With Plebeians as her tickled cats, they hum,
I crave her beauty and company. Come!"

© 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford