Lipika Bhargava : Naho Taruishi
May June July August September
July, 2024
July, 2024
I like the way in which water defines/shapes lands on the world map and the way in which currents/movement resonate with each other. Everything is connected and continuously changing. We think things stay the same but everything is in constant flow.
It is similar to the movement inside oneself. I’ve been compelled to shed light on it. To observe it attentively. To understand my own fluidity. One movement leading to the other.
May June July August September
May 31, 2024
Lipika Bhargava
Naho Taruishi
It was on the 13th floor where the six of us lived.
Window framed the summer fireworks.
Sunset traced the contours of Mt.Fuji.
I recall the space with the view as my internal landscape.
Naho Taruishi
June 30, 2024
Window framed the summer fireworks.
Sunset traced the contours of Mt.Fuji.
I recall the space with the view as my internal landscape.
Naho Taruishi
June 30, 2024
May June July August September
May 31, 2024
May 31, 2024
As the initial point of our collaborative departure, each of us responds to the poem by Refaa Alareer, a Palestinian writer, poet, professor and activist. He was deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli airstrike while sheltering at his house in Gaza on December 6, 2023.
by Refaat Alareer
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze–
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself–
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
Lipika Bhargava
To tell the tale, to embody it
To become you, to understand
To understand, to see
To see clearly, to see clearly
How do I tell the tale if
I don’t see clearly
What will it take for me to see clearly?
A story behind every name
Every statistic
Day after day, video after video
Dreams vanished, burnt
I see but I don’t see
It is too much to bear
Too much to articulate
“Oh then I have to articulate
my entire being”
My entire being
So why don’t you?
What’s stopping you?
What’s the red line?
How do we reach the white cloth?
Hug it and cry for days and months
Are you not human?
All the tears dried up, there is a flame
that is burning inside
A fire that melted innocence
A genocide
And you still see and do nothing.
So what will it take to wake up
from this deep slumber?
To tell the tale
We have to be awake
To be awake, we have to constantly
Remind ourselves
A meditation on reality
Too much to articulate
“Oh then I have to articulate
my entire being”
My entire being
So why don’t you?
What’s stopping you?
What’s the red line?
How do we reach the white cloth?
Hug it and cry for days and months
Are you not human?
All the tears dried up, there is a flame
that is burning inside
A fire that melted innocence
A genocide
And you still see and do nothing.
So what will it take to wake up
from this deep slumber?
To tell the tale
We have to be awake
To be awake, we have to constantly
Remind ourselves
A meditation on reality
A red reality
Of white supremacy
Supremacy of every kind
deeply interwoven
A continuous movement of learning
I’m learning to not fear
To act even when there is fear
Fear that has developed over years
I hold that fear
But the fear will go away
You will learn to ignore it
Courage in the face of death
Palestinians are freeing us
We have nothing to lose
but our chains
Of white supremacy
Supremacy of every kind
deeply interwoven
A continuous movement of learning
I’m learning to not fear
To act even when there is fear
Fear that has developed over years
I hold that fear
But the fear will go away
You will learn to ignore it
Courage in the face of death
Palestinians are freeing us
We have nothing to lose
but our chains