Author Archives: montecyril

History is replete with tales of brazen belligerence  Civilisations have been built on such aggressiveness  That man is inculcated to view his neighbours as aliens  And subjugate them, and instill fear in their veins  Peace has not a chance between fallacious borders  As long as domination of others is the day’s order  And callous warContinue reading “The greed for power and the seed of war: A poem “

There is an eleventh holy fateful commandment  That secures God’s unswerving telling judgement  Those that act with a secret sense of virtue  garner mysterious proceeds that are invisibly true  That they do not serve power, fame and fortune  But in sincerity bear charity in the mute  And those who work for selfish personal gain  areContinue reading “Of pharisees and publicans: A poem “

The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday, March 15, adopted a resolution introduced by Pakistan, on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), designating the day as ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’.  But India begged to differ. India made a plea to the UN to make the scope of the ‘Islamophobia’ debate broader to encompass other non-Abrahamic religions likeContinue reading “Excuse me, religiophobia, not Islamophobia “

How life can be an endlessly winding crucible of pain  Those that are resolute and brave, and do not feign  That they can be snared by evil, but yet have goodness reign  And so let opportunities slip by, but do not self-disdain  That one can be dazed by mishap, but be miraculously unfazed  For inContinue reading “Ode to those who, in the dark, dance: A poem “

Since the beginnings of cyclical time  When truth was made unfairly too sublime  She trudged her way fighting for good  Her eruditeness was an eternal childhood  She lampooned evil, and for justice stood  Waylaying the armies of hell, in her awesome brood  She was Horus’ instructor, the indomitable tremor  When evil’s hatchlings spread with rancour Continue reading “The devil’s daughter: A poem “

Hieros gamos is the sacred union of the masculine principle and the feminine principle, that join together to form an alchemical reaction. It essentially implies a sexual union and ritual. In our solar system, it is epitomised by the union of the sun, the father and gold, and the moon, the mother and silver.  However,Continue reading “Hieros gamos – and the sacred and profane of astrological relationships “

The flags of religion have proudly and rampantly marched across the world  And ancient civilisations, in turn, were unceremoniously hurled  That for all the preaching of good tidings, it was the sword that spoke  To take vulnerable peoples, as their own faiths were rendered broke  And yet, those marked for death, who haplessly but firmly didContinue reading “The crucifix, and the cross of poverty and slavery: A poem “

The striking ray of game awakens the hunter  His hunger seething amid the bushes of ber  A sickle batting out the frutescence of brush-berry  The scent of hooves invoking canine ferocity  That the child bears witness to with increased levity  His palate still sticky from rice stew, curried paste,  sweet potato, thorny dried sardine andContinue reading “Mongols: A poem “

The echoes of the predicament of Ukraine, precipitated by the Russian invasion, are reverberating throughout the world, but perhaps more so in Taiwan, which is struggling to assert its independent and democratic status against vociferous Chinese aggression. Chinese President Xi Jin Ping has not been coy about reiterating, in recent times, that his country may takeContinue reading “Will it be Taiwan’s turn next? “

Sifting for gold amid the chaff  His sacred mission needs no epitaph  And while his form was tattered and worn  His grit and determination always shone  Never forgetting to do the alchemist’s turn  Even as his roses did burn  That though it was not games and fun  The magical magnum opus was done  Mendicant, wizard,Continue reading “The passing of the alchemist: A poem “