“Integration is Illumination (The Sonnet)
Asato ma sad gamaya*,
Benevolence is bismillah.
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya**,
Mind is the mightiest menorah.
Luz, lux, noor - light by any name,
Brings the same illumination.
And what is this mythical light,
If not an act of collective ascension!
Light is not the absence of darkness,
Light is the absence of indifference.
Darkness is symptom, coldness is the sickness,
Once we treat coldness, we'll treat all darkness.
I repeat, light by any name brings the same illumination.
If not now, when will we put an end to this dehumanization!
(*Let's rise from ignorance to truth. **Let's rise from darkness to light.)”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“Luz, lux, noor - light by any name brings the same illumination.”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“Sometimes healing is not the moment everything changes. Sometimes it is the quiet decision to remain gentle with yourself while change is still unfolding.”
Source: The Belief That Healed Me
“Light by any name brings the same illumination.”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“Real Human (The Sonnet)
You are either pro-guns,
or pro-human, you cannot be both.
You are either against abortion,
or pro-life, you cannot be both.
You are either intolerant,
or religious, you cannot be both.
You are either anti-semite,
or sapiens, you cannot be both.
You are either homophobic,
or human, you cannot be both.
You are either islamophobic,
or civilized, you cannot be both.
Tolerating intolerance is sign of an animal.
Integration is what makes humanity human.”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“You are either anti-semite or sapiens, you cannot be both.”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“Mi casa no es su casa, porque no tengo casa. Mi casa eres tú, yo soy tu casa. When each human becomes home to another, that is the birth of an impossible esperanza.”
Source: Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence
“Outside The Museum (The Sonnet)
Enough with, patria o muerte*!
Enough with, god save the queen!
Enough with, heil hitler!
Enough with, o say can you see!
Bronze age beings yell about national glory,
Stone age beings yell about religious glory.
Electric beings got no time for such make-believe,
On their shoulders walks the present of humanity.
There is no earth till all roots combine,
Till we crave for each other all roots are chains.
Museums add perspective on the direction of life,
But to spend a life in museum is life lost in vain.
Enough with vande mataram**,
it's time for vasudhaiva kutumbakam***.
To hell with nation, culture and tradition,
civilization awaits outside the museum.
(*homeland or death, *hail the motherland, ***world is family)”
Source: Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans
“Borders don't preserve peace, borders only breed war. All peace is fiction till we treat every border as Donald Trump's wall.”
Source: Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans
“Every Culture is My Culture (The Sonnet)
If America fails in advancement, so will the world,
If South America fails in liberty, so will the world.
If Mexico fails in passion, so will the world,
If India fails in diversity, so will the world.
Every atom of planet earth is teeming with potential,
Yet most see nothing beyond the rim of their culture.
Culture is peddled in the world as a sectarian prison,
Yet the fact is, culture integrated is culture empowered.
Every culture belongs in every heart, every heart that is human,
While stoneage notions of culture still dominate the animal.
Simply put, till all cultures are ours, no culture is ours,
Any culture that claims supremacy belongs on a surgeon's table.
If humanity fails to embrace the strength of each culture,
There will be no humanity, there will be no culture.”
Source: Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans