Places that have no names

  
 places that have no
 names spring in
 my mind insisting that
 their existence is
 a fact irrefutable
  
 the places that have no
 names have people without
 faces floating in
 the after-death decay
 of ocean contamination
  
 the places that have no
 names with faceless people floating
 in the ocean of decay exude
 a cold rotten vibe killing all
 that grows that swims that jumps
 that sees that speaks that
 faces the world alive
 each day
  
 in the ocean of decay
 people without faces
 have eyes
 that are open
 Close your eyes
 dead fish float in an ocean of decay
 Close your eyes
 a thumb and a forefinger
 shuts them close putting
 the dead to eternal sleep
  
 but the dead
 don't sleep
 their eyes stay open
 people without faces
 in the nameless places
 have eyes
 that stay open
 all night
 and the day
  
 can we say
 that the faceless people
 were people
 without faces
 who did not need to hide 
 in shame
 or
 lust
 'uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness. 3. a … desire or craving (usually followed by for): a lust for power.' dictionary dot com
  
 humiliation
 or
 aggression
 'the action of attacking without provocation, especially in beginning a quarrel or war. "the dictator resorted to armed aggression"-' google dot ca
  
 helplessness
 or
 exploitation
 '1. misuse, abuse, manipulation, imposition, using, ill-treatment- the exploitation of working women' thefreedictionary dot com
  
 there's fog in the scene
 thick swirls of shame 
 self-loathing
  
 dear Child, stop
 that adult male human parent. No, 
 we can't help you, but
 we are here
 participating
 as your unseeing unhearing
 silencing
 audience.
 Who are we? Ha Ha Ha! We are
 adults surrounding you
 arounding you
 in a close-knit circle
 of abuse.
  
 Don't trust the lover, the doctor, the nurse
 Don't trust the family, Don't trust friends.
 Don’t fucking TRUST
 any HU
 -MAN there
 is a wound
 in everyone
  
 perpetrator
 as wounded human
 is still a perpetrator
 the wounded human parent
 must be confronted
 GET THAT CHILD
 to stop to stop
 STOP
 to stop that perpetrator
 stop that human
 STOP
 THAT
 PARENT
  
 Don't trust teachers
 soldiers intellectuals scholars priests;
 all men, can't you see, or women
 who serve male gods. Education
 statecraft art religion scholarship 
 suffer 
 slavery
 at the hands of
 power-festering
 minds of men born into
 and loving their
 privilege
  
 together
 they make laws governments
 cultural
 values, police departments, defense
 industries, stories
 of women sacrificing
 their lives for men, introducing
 meat industry
 and goats
 as equals / protagonists / heroes of the game
  
 Trust your gut
 instinct impulse
 Act your gut
 instinct impulse
 Elect your gut
 instinct
 impulse
 Protect your gut
 instinct
 impulse
  
 But can it stop the
 bullet? The gut, the instinct,
 the impulse, what
 does it do? Stop the nightfall? The
 sunrise? What
 can it do to
 save to
 save a
 child <against> an adult
 daughter <against> father
 wife <against> husband
 sister <against> brother
 woman <against> man
 slave <against> master
 poor <against> rich
 godless <against> god
  
 choice is not always
 available to children
 children don't have
 many choices
 in weapons
 and warfare
 grounds of the battle
 battle grounds
 the duel
 will be fought
 with unknown
 weapons
 surprise attacks physical assaults social repression
 the opponent is a
 male
 adult
 parent
  
 all battlegrounds
 belong to the male
 adult parent
 choice of weapons, combat style, strategy of warfare
 stays in the shaking
 -with-lust hands
 of a coward
 a bigot, liar,
 a cruel opportunist, cold
 manipulator, a shameless
 abuser of people- the ones
 who
 can not
 defend
 themselves
  
 Dear Child, could you please
 stop that adult male human parent, please.
  
 you ask if
 i can kill considering
 my non-violence
 propaganda the love
 i profess to have
 for the life itself
 can i kill
 oh can i ever i can if i can kill
 i tell you i
 can and i'll kill an abuser of children
 a child abuser a pedophil
 i'll kill.
  
 Naming 
 the unnamed 
 with an unbending
 frozen arctic will
 permeating
 the firebombed core
 of the hill
 i’ll kill 
 all the reasons 
 to kill

Originally performed as a monologue for: ‘Places that have no Names’, Cabaret of Monologues, International Women’s Week 2017, Sarasvati Productions, Winnipeg, March 2017

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A South Asian Canadian writer of fiction and poetry, Fauzia Rafique has published three novels: ‘Keerru‘ Punjabi (shahmukhi, Sanjh Publications 2019 Lahore PK), ‘Skeena‘ English and Punjabi (gurmukhi, 2019 Patiala IN. English 2011, Surrey CA. shahmukhi, 2007 Lahore PK), and ‘The Adventures of SahebaN: Biography of a Relentless Warrior’ English (Libros Libertad 2016 Surrey CA). Her eBook of poems ‘Holier Than Life’ was published in 2013. Earlier, she edited an anthology of writings of women of South Asian origin, ‘Aurat durbar: The Court of Women’ (Toronto 1995). In Pakistan, Fauzia worked as a journalist and screenwriter. Fauzia recieved the City of Surrey’s Arts & Heritage Literary Arts Award in 2020. Her short story ‘The position of her power’ was a Finalist for the Sequestrum 2018 Editor’s Reprint Awards. In 2013, Fauzia declined Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal to protest against Canadian Government and British Monarchy for refusing to meet hunger-striking Indigenous leaders. She was recognized in 2012 by peer group WIN Canada as ‘Distinguished Poet & Novelist’ for her first novel ‘Skeena’ (Libros Libertad 2011) and the first chapbook of English and Punjabi poems ‘Passion Fruit/Tahnget Phal’ (Uddari Books 2011). Through creative writing, blogging and community development work Fauzia supports freedom of expression and equality. She publishes blogs on Punjabi literature, blasphemy and honor killings. She is a co-founder and the coordinator of Surrey Muse Arts Society (SMAS).