for the 98th Oscars ceremony
in dim light
battle after battle …
muffled cries
screams, laughter, clapping hands
in this cinematic fray
FYI: L2 is a thematic and emotional play on the title of Paul Thomas Anderson’s comedic political thriller, One Battle After Another, a major movie with 13 nominations and six wins including Best Picture.
Added: Politics of Distraction, II
The Czech Shopkeeper Story Re-told
A row of neon shop windows in Washington, D.C., each holding a full moon. Above the doorframe hangs a sign: "Prices are stable. Everything’s fine."
fireball-lit sky
the reach of winter night
over Tehran
FYI: The title alludes to the parable of the shopkeeper (or greengrocer) in Václav Havel's 1978 essay “The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central Eastern Europe,” where a shopkeeper posts the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” to signal obedience to the system; such everyday rituals help sustain political lies.
This is a sequel to the first entry of Politics of Distraction
oil-dark clouds
hang heavy over Tehran —
reporters squint
at row after row of black bars
in Epstein’s redacted files
(FYI: Politics of Distraction is my new writing project. The title is taken from Al Jazeera: February 26, 2026: Epstein and the politics of distraction
Scandal individualises corruption, creating a spectacle that redirects anger away from structural power)
Added: Politics of Distraction, III
Ramadan moon
sliced by one jet's contrail
after another
ink-dark columns rising
from tankers near Hormuz
Added:
Make Love, Not War...
candles in drifting snow
flicker, yet hold
FYI: "Make love, not war" is a legendary 1960s counterculture slogan advocating for peace, love, and sexual liberation over violence and conflict, primarily opposing the Vietnam War
