Athina Bogdani Das was born in Germany, raised in Greece and has been living in the UK since 1999. She has a social sciences educational background. Currently, she is the managing director of a life sciences knowledge transfer platform BBUK Ltd involved in the Human Resource Development in Health in Bangladesh.
Freedom
I throw my pen
To rescue thee.
Bejewelled words
Lay bare on white sheet.
A vacant mind,
A stricken heart,
lost I the haze,
of freedom’s desire.
Which vision of freedom
do you crave my love?
Which image of freedom do you really see?
Are the green tall mountains
where the sun sinks behind
as they tied in the foothills,
you think,
free?
Are the distant planets
of our universe in their orbits
floating with their will and
free?
Are the glistening waters
of the goddess sea
that lives between glorious lands,
free?
Lives linked with cords
In mother’s womb,
we both grew dependant
in life’s bonds.
The chain of life
through birth and death
invisible maybe
but yet entwined intricately
in beautiful, simple
harmony.
Moment after moment,
I dream to be free,
in the secret shrine
of my heart,
just you and me.
In floating clouds
four letter travel
(FREE)
with strings attached
to the fragments of a soul
a desolate path
of a colourful sorrow
pulling apart
a life that is hollow.
I can build for you for you a reality
that is free.
An illusion to chase to beyond
with a lover’s plea.
But you should know the truth,
as harsh as it may be.
As I know that the only place
that we will ever be free,
is our mind,
which belongs,
to you and me.
Illiad of the Pandemic
It is the battle,
it is the war
depriving you from me
my love!
Both leader and a king
I can see you are
in full swing.
Hold your sword
and slay this beast
keep your queen
safe in peace.
She is the beauty
and your love.
She is our hope
to fight for!
Her name mysterious
but great.
In human nations is all
her reign.
Hygieia she is called
the daughter of Asclepius,
a hero father,
a god alike
who offered her to our side.
In this battlefield of the world
an enemy invisible to all.
Fight the good fight,
keep strong.
Victory now won’t be long.
Oh, Traveller in the Desert
Oh, traveller in the desert,
which network of suffering is woven,
in lives of yours and mine?
Oh, traveller in the desert,
the whole world
has become still and silent.
I feel your feet growing tired.
I feel your body turning weak.
I feel your soul like an empty shadow.
Oh, traveller in the desert,
living in a world of words and thoughts,
falling into a wonderland of emotions and tears,
filling up those hazel eyes of yours.
Oh, traveller in the desert,
look for the horizon of a life
boundless in its extend
eternal in its duration.
Hear the gurgle of the water
flowing towards you,
like a love song echoing in the wind.
Oh, traveller in the desert,
feel the dewdrops on lotus leaves,
like a kiss touching you softly.
Keep your faith as a compass
and take my love as your strength.
The Strong Lion
I once met a lion,
the king of his land,
his jaws were of power,
his roar brought fear,
on any man that could hear.
I bowed my head for this earthly king,
in the sunset light
as the sky dressed in pink.
As he wondered free spirited and bold,
with his beautiful mane
in his land of gold,
full of sweet honey and
where lilies never stop to grow,
I looked in his eyes that were full of love.
Inside his bright amber gaze,
I saw a strong, spirited man,
so gentle and pure with a loving heart,
giving courage to all and praise
seeking nothing in exchange.
But lion now needs to know,
to follow his destiny and glow,
to make a leap
over the rainbow and where the winds blow.
Lion now needs to know,
what the word king might mean,
as God made him powerful,
strong,
a majestic creature,
with charisma to rule upon.
In Parentheses Supports The Black Lives Matters and Racial Equality Movement
Freedom should be free – The Bail Project.
Support the Black Lives Matters movement & ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever.
National Police Accountability Project – dedicated to ending the abuse of authority.
#8CANTWAIT – Police Departments that have adopted these use of force policies kill significantly fewer people. Data proves that together these eight policies can decrease police violence by 72%. Find out how to lobby for better policing in your area.
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From the Editor:
We hope that readers receive In Parentheses as a medium through which the evolution of human thought can be appreciated, nurtured and precipitated. It will present a dynamo of artistic expression, journalism, informal analysis of our daily world, entertainment of ideas considered lofty and criticism of today’s popular culture. The featured content does not follow any specific ideology except for that of intellectual expansion of the masses.
Founded in late 2011, In Parentheses prides itself upon analysis of the current condition of intelligence in the minds of these young people, and building a hypothesis for one looming question: what comes after Post-Modernism?
The idea for this magazine stems from a simple conversation regarding the aforementioned question, which drew out the need to identify our generation’s place in literary history.
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By In Parentheses in IP Volume 7
32 pages, published 1/15/2022
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