Goodbye, Dad and Mom
"I began to talk like a Jew.
I think I may well be a Jew." - Sylvia Plath
"Oh, Daddy,
You know you make me cry" - Fleetwood Mac
"Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
....
We are going to keep things like this.'
....
Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mama's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly"... Pink Floyd
Mama's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly"... Pink Floyd
When they came for me
they told me
"you are one of us.
Your ancestors
were from our religion.
Why did you leave us?
Come back home.
Don't try to convert us
We have the answers for that
No one can leave us
No one join us
And even among us
No one can go up the ladder
No one can climb down
'Nothing has changed since we began.
Our eyes have permitted no change.We are going to keep things like this.'
You can't convert us
But, you "Jew"
you just try
&
your Daddy and Mommy will soon fix you.
Don't you know
we have answers for everything?
Your questions may be different, but change them, do.
Is your body weak?
Do Yoga.
Are you ill?
Try Ayurveda
or siddha vaidyam
and you will be fine.
Want no rebirth?
Go to Kailasa.
Is your soul sick?
Read the Bhagwad Gita.
Mind not enlightened?
Come to Vedanta.
Heart sick?
Embrace the bhakti marga.
Searching for mukthi?
Try our yukthi.
Don't call this conversion or baptism.
This is just cultural immersion.
Who was it said "Change is the immutable law in Nature"
So help us, Ram, we will kill that fellow!
Who was it said "Change is the immutable law in Nature"
So help us, Ram, we will kill that fellow!
Oh, dad and mom
lost in your chakravyuh
don't you know
the world has changed around you?
Anything you say
I don't have
as it is found
only in you
I found it all
outside too
Thomas the Apostle had it
and Thomas of Cnana
The Antiochians too
Siddhartha had it
The Sufis had it
Kabir did too
Akbar had it
& Asoka too
What can you give me
when what's lost has been found
what's to come has already been
that was not bought and paid for
by the blood of the Lamb
when Mara fled when Buddha laughed
when Nanak spoke and many left
Hinduism and Islam
when Zen and Tao is still there
when Confucius still speaks, though dead
what can you give me
except this lore
that this is my land
and it all began here
which is also not really true
It began in Africa, you know, you knew
and all land is holy and all land not (y)ours
we are its, and that the 'Redskins' knew
We have our own music
We don't need yours
Our own art, our own songs, and lyrics
Our own literature and culture too
Our own architectural spaces to woo
Do you want health for the body and medicine for its ailments?
We can give it to you too
through medicine, science, knowledge, research and reason now, anew
Do you want salvation
for the spirit?
Balm for the soul?
Enlightened mind?
Heart full of light and hope?
Intellectual thoughts to feed your mind,
Keep it satisfied?
It's all in our books, lit up in blue
Daddy, even escaping rebirth.
Don't give me the superior caste brew.
Truth is concave, convex and universal/global/international.
Daddy, for an instant, think of this:
If you were not there what would happen to Bliss?
Sat-chit-anandam?
Nothing would, it can't be added to
or taken from, don't you know, daddy dear?
That's the truth about any land
or religion or faith or caste/creed.
A world without us or a world without you?
Life would still go on, never fear!
Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.
Kind King Lear, don't cry, Cordelia still loves you.
One day, too late, you'll know only I/she was loyal and true to you.
"Oh, Daddy,
We have our own music
We don't need yours
Our own art, our own songs, and lyrics
Our own literature and culture too
Our own architectural spaces to woo
Do you want health for the body and medicine for its ailments?
We can give it to you too
through medicine, science, knowledge, research and reason now, anew
Do you want salvation
for the spirit?
Balm for the soul?
Enlightened mind?
Heart full of light and hope?
Intellectual thoughts to feed your mind,
Keep it satisfied?
It's all in our books, lit up in blue
Daddy, even escaping rebirth.
Don't give me the superior caste brew.
Truth is concave, convex and universal/global/international.
Daddy, for an instant, think of this:
If you were not there what would happen to Bliss?
Sat-chit-anandam?
Nothing would, it can't be added to
or taken from, don't you know, daddy dear?
That's the truth about any land
or religion or faith or caste/creed.
A world without us or a world without you?
Life would still go on, never fear!
Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.
Kind King Lear, don't cry, Cordelia still loves you.
One day, too late, you'll know only I/she was loyal and true to you.
"Oh, Daddy,
won't you give me your smile
for letting me know"
"I'm a bit of a Jew"
Oh, Mother,
Don't fool me anymore
Your little boy's grown up
and he's no Oedipus.
He don't need no one, now, anymo'
to tell him right from wrong.
good from bad
black from white
Eenie meenie mini mo
He ain't no nigga, no mo' you can't catch him by his toe
and say if he follows let him go, if he don't tell him no
to tell him right from wrong.
good from bad
black from white
Eenie meenie mini mo
He ain't no nigga, no mo' you can't catch him by his toe
and say if he follows let him go, if he don't tell him no
He don't need no lies
in the name of land, caste, faith, religion, language, -sthan or -ism.
All he wants is love and fun
All he wants is love and fun
and compassion, grace, mercy and a bit of life under the sun.
Oh Daddy, stop fooling me with this game.
I don't speak your language
of fascism.
Open, Sesame.
I have my own discourse too.
If you want to, fit in it, please do.
Open, Sesame.
I have my own discourse too.
If you want to, fit in it, please do.
Have you heard Mahavishnu Orchestra sing
"Are you ready to be
a planetary citizen?"
Give up your nationalism.
And "Mother",
stop trying to tell me
"she's dangerous."
I married her.
The one you thought
I should not,
your perceived enemy.
Now be at peace.
High time you learned
life and time flow forward,
not backward,
if you two really want to -
not backward,
if you two really want to -
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