For Jahanera
In the crease of the numb Aeons, a fleck on the glum Cosmos,
I stumbled upon a
silly, elfin, true-eyed creature.
Do not go searching for pine tarts in the crumbling forest any more.
Do not flee at nightfall and sleep under the leafy arc.
There I found you once before,
in the gorge of the desiccated cataract,
in the land of grim woods
where lost urchins wait to be snatched in time
Never to return,
but to live, and to weave a tale of a hamlet where
no one is cast away.
Daniel Jakopovich
Daniel Jakopovich is the founder and editor of the progressive political and cultural journal, Novi Plamen. He is currently finishing a doctorate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge, where he was a guest lecturer. He is active in the peace movement in the UK (including as a trustee of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Vice Chair of Uniting for Peace and a campaigner with the Stop the War Coalition). He is also a member of the Council of the International Peace Bureau.