Original Vow (Anti Fascist Sonnet) – Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets

By race we are all african,
by birth we are all feminist,
by nature we are all lovers,
by suffering we are all poets.

You know, which nation has the nicest people?
You cannot guess in a million years.
The nation with the nicest people is, Earth, for
no nation has exclusive franchise over niceness –

goodness is a human quality, not a national one.
Nationalism is an animal trait, not a human one.
Sacredness is a secular practice, not sectarian.
Culture is an act of expansion, not exclusion.

Bella ciao, we’re not going back
to the jungle, not ever, not now.
Hate not permitted while I stand,
this, is the original divine vow.