RON JACOBS applauds a reading of black history in the US that plots the path from autonomy to self-governance and then liberation
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Fatima’s Bird
by Mike Jenkins
TOM KING relishes an enlightening history of the checkered progress of the war that humanity has waged on bacteria
ANDY HEDGECOCK is intrigued by a scholarly account of how systemic disinformation can exacerbate the perception of threat and foster hatred
New releases from Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and London pianist Geoff Castle
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
WILL STONE applauds a comprehensive survey of love in its many moods and musical forms
There among fragile homes
of wood, card, nylon,
is Fatima with her bird.
7 years and 7 months
of never being sure.
“If he dies so do I.
But he has kept me alive,
comes everywhere with me.”
She grips the cage,
the bird her heart flutters.
He is her family, her friend.
perhaps he senses, shrieks
at threats from above.
She will never let go.
Even night-time he’s there :
a guide for her dreams,
a flight from her nightmares.
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