Red Door Magazine 23

POETRY SELECTION:
Fundamental Right to Dream
By Debasish Parashar
Imagine you are a little weird
and you dream of yellow rivers
gathering tea leaves to the tune of ardent Erhu
music
in the heart of a Syrian child
imagine you believe her tears,
flying samurais,
can flood rice fields of gold
transform into maritime Silk-routes
ancient as hope
through Silk-routes of tear you sail on a tiny boat
from Kunming to Mediterranean shores
kissing continents of solitude
will you be wrong ?
no, not at all
because you have a fundamental right to dream
a natural right to dream
Imagine you are listening to a relaxing
composition of Spanish guitars
lying on your bed of windows
lights off and fog outside
you sleep down the slippery melodies of
a candle-lit evening from the 90’s
you feel strongly you could still live that innocence
will you be wrong ?
no, not at all
because you have a fundamental right to dream
an inalienable right to dream
Imagine it’s a stormy night
and you are sailing through the Silk-routes of tear
on your tiny boat
You come across a dream-seller
carrying fallen leaves
you ask for a dream and he offers his palms instead
you hold his hands and cry
will you be wrong ?
no, not at all
because, without sweat and blood and tears
there is no right to dream
as a three-year old
I used to scream seeing butterflies in my dreams
I could not tolerate those intense dreams
I used to wake up in tears, tired and terrified
I have seen dreams growing to words
and butterflies shaped into swords
butterflies with edges of sword can cut you into
doubles
my dreams have been weird
your dream will be different
no matter what
you have a fundamental right to dream
a different dream
an inalienable and a natural right to dream
just like your right to breathe
you have a right to dream.
Debasish Parashar is a Multilingual Poet, Creative Entrepreneur, Singer/Musician
and Lyricist based in New Delhi, India. He is an Assistant Professor of English
literature at the University of Delhi. Parashar is the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of
Advaitam Speaks Literary journal and is associated with the World Poetry Movement.
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