Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant

by Indran Amirthanayagam

There's an adage that journalism is the first draft of history, but for the flesh-and-blood truth of lived experience, the "news that stays news" has always been poetry. And perhaps no poet is better situated to write of the tumultuous events of the recent past than Indran Amirthanayagam, a true global citizen. In TEN THOUSAND STEPS AGAINST THE TYRAN, he encapsulates the full range of emotion surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election and subsequent insurrection, taking place against the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic, from terror and outrage to euphoria and hope for "Joe and Kamala," as he refers to the newly elected president and vice president, this familiarity itself a desire for a return to decency and simple human dignity. There are poems here that treat of politics and lofty affairs of state, a world the poet has experienced as an international diplomat, and of living through pandemic; but for the heart of the collection, look to his tender poem for his mother, and his desire to keep her safe, to hold her forever--"Decline and death are prohibited." This same love is extended to all mankind throughout these poems. They are a celebration, but also a warning of the fragility of our tenuous step back from the brink of tyranny. And if the first bloom of hope for the Biden administration is already wilting a bit in the harsh glare of reality, that's all the more reason to persevere. "We need to hear / the songs of your migrant heart," he declares in his opening poem. We need to keep singing. We need to be prepared to take the next step, beyond the 10,000 steps it has taken to reach this point, ready for the moment "the world wakes up from / this pandemic dream alive and ready to move, / to make, to fill, and to rename the void." Poetry.

100 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2022

About the author

Indran Amirthanayagam writes poetry and essays in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. His works include The Splintered Face, Ceylon R.I.P., El Infierno de Los Pájaros, El Hombre que Recoge Nidos, Sol Camuflado, La Pelota del Pulpo and The Elephants Of Reckoning, which won the 1994 Paterson Poetry Prize. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and journals throughout the world. He has also published translations of Mexican poets Manuel Ulacia and Jose Eugenio Sanchez. He is a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service.

Reviews

[Kashiana Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indran is a poet, writer par excellence, and writing a review for him seems a little too ambitious. This collection of poetry is focused on the necessary call of our current geo-political situation. Each poem a walk to the destination and as the destination keeps moving the poems keep moving too. They march, they call, they sing, they cry, they whisper, they repeat till they enter our veins with the message of hope, renewal and action.
Go Indran go - may this collection live in the veins of the people of America and the world. It will in mine for sure!

All the best to the book and you!

[Indran Amirthanayagam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers from many parts of the country have written to tell me how this book accompanied them in their voting during the mid terms. Now that is a most practial application for these political love poems..

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may take 10,000 steps, but freedom and peace are worth every stone stuck in your shoe, every bead of sweat that falls, and every emotional emptying it takes. Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant by Indran Amirthanayagam explores the freedom of an open heart that allows us to “embrace the darkness and accept each other’s/absolute freedom to fly to the other end of the earth.” (“The Candle (Migratory Bird), pg. 87)

Full review: https://savvyverseandwit.com/2022/02/...