When Tragedy Strikes

“When Tragedy Strikes”
Priya Dixit

Where will you be

When tragedy strikes?

On a curve of cracked road

In a fog-soaked night

The cloaked moon leers

His yellowing grin,

As tragedy smirks in

The rictus of death

Making a farce of life once again.

Tragedy strikes

In the dead of the night

Eyelashes are laced with

Shoelaces untied

Because tragedy's sudden

And tragedy's blind.

The sirens were cold

But blinking lights burned

When they woke up again

Since tragedy stings

From the depths of the dead.

Tragedy strikes

In the dead of the night

It creeps like a blight that's

Impossible to fight

Because tragedy cuts like

A blunt rusted chef's knife

And tragedy twists like

A dagger in weak light.

The cracked road is painted

With splintered white lines

Old bones were broken and

Rubble was smoking

Over red lights and white lines

Rubble to gravel and

Gravel to smoke

From bloodstains to pale eyes

Chance cheats and faith lies.   

Tragedy strikes

In the dead of the night

It’s a sickly

Paralysis settling on

Snow over mud stabbed into

Blood over snow as sliced-up

Spiderwebs trickle

Over fate and torn eyelids

Slip into sleep

That penultimate

Anesthetic and scream

Into tragedy's numbing embrace

Because heartbeats are stilling and

Hope will be fickle

(Flatlining and dying)

And tragedy's true.

Tragedy strikes

In the dead of the night

Cold as dawn  

Without the light.

What will you do

When tragedy strikes?

What could

You do

When tragedy strikes?

Gateway to Redemption

This image represents Baba's attitude towards redemption and the path he takes to achieve redemption. After he commits the sin of fathering Hassan, Baba faces a choice; he can either remain guilty or he can strive to atone for his sins. The gate symbolizes the impeding nature of the moral decision he is forced to face. The "Keep clear at all times" sign illustrates the pressure and difficulty of redeeming himself and becoming a better person. As demonstrated in the image, Baba walks past the gate, taking the strenuous path of redemption, or walking past his obstacles to be a magnanimous and honorable man who gives back to his community. The subject's back to the photographer furthers the concept that while Baba may regret his mistakes, he does not dwell on the past or look back, but instead faces the future beyond, riddled with obstacles as it may. These obstacles include the journey away from Afghanistan, life in America, and raising Amir (the bicycles). 

The Continual, Looming Threat: HIV and AIDS in Africa

Global warming. Nuclear threats from North Korea. The Syrian refugee crisis. The United States presidential election of 2016. All of the aforementioned issues have immense significance on the global scale, and continue to have the same exposure to the public eye. Media coverage of these politically and socially charged topics is continually on the rise, polarizing the United States and the world. Yet there is an issue that persistently plagues most of Africa in a prominent manner, and, in proportion to the issue’s magnitude is currently receiving a low amount of coverage.

What is this large-scale issue that affects Africa? Progress has largely stalled since 2008 for the HIV and AIDS epidemic, at least for Africa, when foreign funding was revoked significantly, despite the global trend of an overall decrease (Beaubien).  Since 2011, African people experienced 71% of HIV-related deaths (DoSomething.org). However, despite the fact that the bulk of the issue is located in Africa, the HIV epidemic has gravity throughout the globe, in terms of the health crisis and progress in medicine (Beaubien). In addition, the HIV and AIDS epidemic has an impact on women’s rights and health overall (Doucleff). But who exactly is affected the most by the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa, and what is the state of progress?

Young women, typically of the 15 to 29 age bracket, are the most affected by HIV and AIDS across the entire continent of Africa. These women do not have any control over their own reproductive health, leading to an increased rate of infection. In one clinic, 38% of pregnant women tested as positive for HIV, a percentage widely regarded as unprecedentedly high (Doucleff). Innovations in HIV prevention technology have helped the plight of women, yet the issue still remains that women are more affected by HIV and AIDs (Doucleff). According to DoSomething.org, pregnant women without HIV medicine has a 20 to 45% chance that her infant will receive the illness. This contributes to the issue of women’s rights and safety in the context of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa, leaving the question of what the current state of progress is.

The progress since 1997 has brought about a decrease in HIV-related deaths worldwide, yet progress has been slower in Africa, as there are still several problems with the current system that would need to be addressed for more progress to occur (Beaubien). In 1997, the year when the number of HIV-infected people worldwide was at its highest, there were 3.5 million people infected, and there were 2 million affected in 2010 (Beaubien). In addition, AIDS is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa (Goblin). Despite this overall negative trend, in South Africa, mother-to-child transmissions have decreased 90 percent and new infections have dropped by one third (McNeil). As mentioned above, innovations in technology are underway for women who are susceptible to being infected with HIV against their will, which contribute to progress (Doucleff).

As evidenced, the issues of women’s rights and the higher susceptibility of women to HIV and AIDS in Africa is intrinsically tied to the progress being made overall. An increase in women’s health in Africa overall would cause the trend of HIV and AIDS to decrease (Doucleff). Overall, progress is following the same trend of hovering between technological innovations and obstacles such as a lack of funding and stigma towards women’s health (McNeil). However, further developments that are yet to be occur amidst the rampant yet declining HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa remain to be seen.

Works Cited:

Beaubien, Jason. "Why Can't We Bring Down The Number Of New HIV Cases?" NPR. NPR, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Doucleff, Michaeleen. "The HIV Trap: A Woman's Lack Of Control." NPR. NPR, 23 July 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Jr., Donald G. McNeil. "AIDS Progress in South Africa Is in Peril." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Goliber, Thomas. "The Status of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa." The Status of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

"HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Overview." AVERT. N.p., 01 May 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

"11 Facts about HIV in Africa." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Balzac Symbolism Project

Arushi Lakhan-Pal

Priya Dixit

Drew Guggeis

Kelly Tan

Sophia Hwang

Balzac Symbolism Project

Loss: Ticks Away

Symbol: Rooster Alarm Clock

“We were surprised to see how the alarm clock seized the imagination of the peasants. It became an object of veneration, almost. Everyone came to consult the clock, as though our house on stilts was a temple”(14).

“In the end we had changed the position of the hands so many times that we had no idea what the time really was” (15).

The symbol of the alarm clock illustrates the theme of loss through its usage and perception throughout the novel. Luo and the narrator keep the the alarm clock and manipulate the time in order to keep any amount of power they can over their own lives despite the losses they have faced. The alarm clock is one of the few last links to their past, and is used as a coping mechanism for the difficulties they must face.

Symbol: Lice

“I had a vision of my body as a rallying ground for armies of lice, all thrilled at the change of diet, ravenous for the delights offered by my poor veins” (71).

“It was not hard to imagine the scene : the bug-infested bed upon which Four-Eyes lay, fighting to stay awake in case the old man happened to sign snatches of sincere, authentic folk songs in his sleep, while the lice swarmed out of their hiding places to attack in the dark, sucking his blood skating on the slippery lenses of his spectacles, which he hadn’t removed for the night” (65).

The recurring motif of the lice represents the gnawing and draining effect of loss on the main characters and their companions. After enduring the hardships of the mountain village, the parasitic lice represent the sapping effect of re-education and the attendant sense of loss. The omnipresent lice exacerbate their situation in life, injuring them and needling them. Just as the lice are reduced to draining the blood of Luo, Four Eyes, and the narrator, they are forced to make the most situation by any means necessary.

Shatter the Mirrors

Shatter the Mirrors

Priya Dixit

In our world of glass and metal

Surfaces shine beneath the sun

But for all of the reflections

We cannot easily see

Who we truly are

We bustle around

From when the sun dyes

The crumbling mountains

And until the jaws of night

Swallow the stars

We shakily lift mirrors to our faces

Telling ourselves that we see

Everything about ourselves

And we do

In the way parched vultures

Observe the strange depths

Of the sea

But we must hoist the mirror

And make peace with

Our faults

Foibles

Follies

Scattered across our faces

And also acknowledge

Strength

Surety

Security

In our glowing human countenance

To truly behold

Ourselves beyond our visage

Is to shatter the mirrors

And create an unblemished reflection

Of confidence and will

So that our doubts will be still.