Radical Dharma

Break my heart open, not apart,

for less is more, except when I’m waiting for an applause,

a muse that dazzles like spring sunlight passing,

buttercups fill the fields that store memories,

turning pain into beauty like Coleridge being romantic,

dreams referring recollection of ancestors;

fire, all consuming, smoulders to collapse inwards,

feel the healing of water over geraniums,

the horse chestnut stands firm whilst leaves crimple,

sound baths dance to blue skies,

as vulnerability meets courage for a change.

Firebrand Poets

Open Mic Night on Thursday 16th May 2024 from 7.30 pm at The Antwerp Arms, 168-170 Church Road, Tottenham, N17 8AS

🎤✨

Come join Firebrand Poets in an open mic evening to rejoice. Our theme for this month is ‘Common People: Fight the Power!’, with reference to International Workers’ Day. We are acting in solidarity with workers of the world: let’s unite to fight the powers to be! 👩🏿‍🏭✊🏾❤‍🔥

We are a grassroots poetry group with a team of organisers from marginalised identities. It is taking place in a wonderful community pub, the first in North London – The Antwerp Arms 🍻

If you love spoken word poetry, come join the audience and if you love performing poetry, come grab the mic. We will be prioritising performers from historically marginalised identities. We’d love to see you there 🗣

🌈 Put your name down for a slot on the evening, email firebrandpoets@riseup.net or direct message us to claim a spot and we will include your performance for the event.

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook as @FirebrandPoets.

Changing the World

The more beautiful world our hearts know is possible,

Manifests energy to heal the wounds of oppression,

Planting rose bushes and smelling the flowers,

Can be a retreat from the world intent on destruction;

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Progressive apple pies swallow up egos whole,

Signposting virtue when signalling a good person,

When pretence is conceptualised to stand our ground,

Change is dangerous if it’s too radical,

White faces line the benches of ‘progress’,

Getting accredited to train ourselves in wisdom,

Learning from textbooks that reproduce knowledge,

Capturing intelligence as if it only lives in our heads;

---

Shamanic priests expel evil spirits from the body,

The doctors who heal also pass on trauma,

Without a whole understanding of contextual frames,

We replicate power-over games to imagine system change,

Forgetting to embody liberation in our interpersonal connections;

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Generate morphic fields of resonance externally,

Sending vibrations out by not joining the forces to be,

Complicity is key in keeping us guarded from collectivism,

Losing hope every day as the plastic piles up,

Building relationships compassionately is our way out.

Doing the Work

Racialised trauma, healing from the raw wounds,

Of intra-oppression, shaming and sideways glances,

Walking into an English village pub without being violated,

For invalidation comes from turning our backs on white supremacy,

Cultures precipitate wrongdoing to be slowly undone,

By liberating our biases from cloaked states of mind;

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We stand far from prejudiced spaces not naming privilege,

Invisibilising our beings in favour of protecting interests,

Completing EDI trainings for the sake of passing tests,

And looking good on paper, a faux pas for inclusion,

Leading to no responsibility taken for historical harm’s violence.

Land Stewards

solidarity with peasant farmers to hold onto land,

bought off by royalty and stolen by greed,

we ache to find new ground in the midst of the old,

sacred sanctuary protects the space untold;

my mind sharpens like a bull finch snarling,

goshawk moving between nests of delicate air,

every movement expresses time to be called upon,

in the twinkling summer, we shimmer like streams;

agribusiness buying off farms and destroying the biodiversity,

putting monocultures and poison cartels before preservation,

every seed germinates mechanically like tapeworms in stomachs,

eating us from the insides as we struggle to harvest,

the fruits of our labour or the toil of our struggles,

rarefied birds swimming in red potholes of money,

dispossession nor colonisation entered the jewelled frame,

foresaken mysteries clambering for redemption;

landworkers in alliance forming protective rings of love,

to rewild, regenerate and rediscover the meanings

to simple, humble lives that serve the interests of all,

raising up marginalised voices and shielding from the storm,

cartwheel jubilance like hover flies on cow dung,

wishing consumate reflection to broker legitimate fun.

ACT Symposium

ACT Symposium

Rebalancing the Scales

Within a heart-to-heart connection,

Is love in a bouquet staggered with intention;

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Money is a currency that flows energetically,

Redistribute incomes to the Global South,

To create some equity by tipping the balance,

In favour of those most impacted by systemic crises;

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Lily pads floating to steams of consciousness,

Exchanges of sunshine fills the heart’s centre,

Creating a river of memories to waltz in,

Moving beyond extractive practices and feigned resources,

Mulching in straw for fruit trees to prosper;

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Sage is fire to the belly that speaks volumes,

Of intuitive energy that instils a feeling of wholly communion.

Freedom

freedom is liberation of the spirit

a warm feeling that makes you feel light

an abstract idea we reach for

we curdle it to feel a limitless expanse

as if nothing would get in the way of it

a moreish thing that we crave every day

if we aim for it, do we claim it to be true

lullaby sung at night so i can sleep well

an unconditioned state to be in

freedom is a word we often preach

not knowing what it means really

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a clairvoyant mountain with distant peaks

ancient practices restored beneath crevices

a loving feeling releasing energy

biochemical rearrangement of the soul

freestyle that sears high into the night

sex that connects up bodies

---

how can this be?

dreams manifest into reality

every step frames the next one

intuiting time and space through destined eyes

the lack of determinism is a self-determining prophecy

green stars shine illuminated to white saviours

a complex that runs deep as premeditated fiction

seeds into flower, ingest the food of the gods in one take

revelations abound when free from dogma’s shackles

a boxed in label to wriggle out of whenever accused of something

sliding in a cycle, waking up to narrate the fruity undertones shaking out the energy to light the touch-paper

Live performance with friends at Green Gathering

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liba Ravindran (@libaravindran)

ensemble performance with friends on stage at @greengathering_ this month as part of the radical wales #openmic campaigns area, was a beautiful creation captured by @jammmer89, some of my #poetry set to the dulcet tones of @rowantherelentless‘s wind instrument and the heartbeat of jaime’s djembe- it was fun to co-create with loved ones!

Past Reflection

Eldership visits youth from Sweden,

Generational trauma handed down in wisdom,

Soul searchers scratch their ears by a rock,

Learning about past mistakes with eyes open;

---

Shaded seat under an oak tree,

Boys walking down bloated, hand in mouth,

Talking about video games and basketball,

In grief’s tender-stricken image, we relax our heads,

The wind brushing razor skin, touch evoking mystery,

Adaptation hits a brick wall;

---

Spearmint sweets flavour the insides of cavities,

A lonely tent houses regrets beyond ages,

Asking for the heart to beat silent,

Winnowing salvation form the premise of death.

Review of the Year 2021

January

Crisp winter mornings

Feel the new job changing

Laugh at political mistakes

Making a joke out of misery

Thousands of deaths

---

February

An unexpected change of course

I hoped to retain what I gained

Looking outside for wistful memories

Stepping into the green

---

March

Often when authority is challenged

Flowers grow by the bedside

And a new eternity is noticed

Feeling into my strength

Writing new poems in a workshop

---

April

Sunnier times ahead

It takes courage to listen deeply

Sensual pleasure explored

Planning trips to go abroad

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May

Silence beats still

A head clamouring for rest

I loved her to the moment

Where we sat in the Peaks

Walking on water, floating like a stream

---

June

Summer days, warm weather

Breathing new life in

Season of growth, gardening all day to pluck

Wondered listlessly around protests and spaces

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July

Ancient ways restored in practice

Picking up where I left off

Happy to breathe, write and recite

Nakedness explored by touching every part

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August

30^th birthday, a jubilee celebration

Bringing community together

Grateful for loved ones

A stirring abundance of connection

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September

New full-time job keeps future dreams alive

I realised death and Nirvana

A change seems calmer, inviting presence

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October

Falling out of love to break up

Rain dripping, leaves feeling

The cold brushes my toes

Explained premises re-written

Tantamount to pleasure

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November

A job secured, feeling positive about change

Learnt to forgive, open up my heart after a retreat

Focus on making a difference

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December

Every wave is acknowledged

A break to regenerate

Wish to step outside, the cold bites in a harsh fervour

Letters of Fire

Fire crackling under red stars and yellow moon

An open canopy lets emotions run through

Meditation opens eyes to what’s happening inside

Cushioning lilies that peer wide into contact lenses;

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An arms trade robs humanity of those who listen

Breaking laws to set free those imprisoned

Plotting strands of green trees next to emerald lakes

That reflect crystal clear consciousness at an ephemeral rate;

---

Recede to flipping over dead legs in the morning

To swing in Lila, singing joy out of the window

Lucid dream solves equations of disconnection

By looking in the eye and practicing our goodbyes.

eco-poetry

eco-poetry

New Poetry Performance

poetry #performance at an #openmic in #hoxton recorded last month as part of #hiphop night #lunalegacy