Poem by Milind Padki

The Black man is an Island

The Black man is an island, entire in himself; No black man
Is a piece of the American continent, a part of the main.
If a Black man be washed away by the sea, America is
Not the least bit less, (It remains the shining city on the hill);
No Back man’s death diminishes us,
For we are not involved in black-man-kind.
And therefore send not to ask for whom
The police gun barks; it barks for him.

Milind Padki was born to a literary couple in Pune, India, and did not know, till age fifteen, anyone who was not writing a book. For his education in the pharmaceutical sciences he traveled to the great city of Mumbai (then “Bombay”), where life struggle was intense and history was advancing rapidly. He spent twelve years in Mumbai, watching the worker’s struggles up close and writing small articles and poetry. After his PhD he traveled to the US, and in recent years he has been living in Long Island, NY and New Jersey, where he is part of the lively poetry scene, a featured poet a few times and a regular participant in open mikes. His work has been published in the Two Bridges Review, The Times of India and a couple of anthologies.

Hannah Brown is a Boston area-based poet and spoken word artist who recently spent time in Ferguson, Missouri in hopes of being there for the grand jury decision on the Michael Brown shooting.