
On the road to Banepa

The Happiness Report
from the pagan haven
of a guarded and gated
sunny seaside resort
Machine tooled
from a block of concrete
Then deposited
upon a mangrove swamp
along a once pristine coast
Now a checkpoint
and a guard tower
cast shadows
across the lungs of nature
dying of tourist cancer

“The voice of your brother’s blood
Is crying to me from the ground.”
Artwork: David B. Redpath ©2019-2023

When in Agra, perhaps on the way to
the Taj Mahal, drop in to Sheroes Hangout.
So much more than a Restaurant & Cafe.
Run for and by survivors of acid attack.
All women, overcoming the unspeakable.
“Now we are ready to fight back!”

As far as the East
is from the West
at the speed of desperate need
progress … a grab bag of plastic
all mixed up with curses blessed
by the priests of endless greed