Tariku's Droplets

  Blindness is not why the world goes blind; But by the adjectives our tongues wield to glorify enlightenment. The year-end balance between truth and desire Is tipped by the weight and might of words. Where one basks in the valor and honor of a hero with fervor, Another aches at the chilling beauty of a neighbor’s Hitler.

  'ህ ገ መንግስት'? ያኔ  መሰረት ሲበጃጅ ላገር እንዳዲስ ቤት፣ ዳቦ ስም ሲወጣ፣ ለዘመን ህልም ማሸት፤ ምን አሰበን ነበር ያልነው "ተስማምተናል፣" ነገድነት ይንገስ ሰውነት በቅቶናል!   አይደለም ወይ ቃሉ የሰነዱ አንድምታ ሃገር ሰው አልባ ይሁን ነገድ ብቻ እውነቷ?   ዛሬ   ታድያ  ደርሰን  "አቤት"   "ዋይ"  "ዋይ"  ምንለው፣ በነገድ ፍርድ ቤት ሰው መቼ ደም አለው? በቋንቋስ ምህዋር ውስጥ፣ እልቂት መች ፍች አለው?   ነገ  የ ሰነዱን ቁመት፤ ወርድና፤ ጥጋጥግ በልተን፤ሰንጥቀን፤ህመሙን ሳንፈልግ ሰውነትን ሳንዋጅ፣ ሰውን ሳንደነግግ እልቂት ብንረግም በደም ብንበረግግ፣ መሆናችህ አይደል በሃሳዊ ብግነት ላራጅ ለገፋፊ ቢላ ሚያፈላልግ? .................................................................... = የ ኢትዮጲያ ህገ መንግስት መስረታዊ ተፋልሶዎች በፈጠሩት  መድልዎ ምክንያት በየግዜው ህይወታችውን ለሚያጡ ዜጎች።  

  መተከል ልክ እንደ ፍዝ ግጥም፣  ቤት መምቻው ሚደግም፣ የዘመኔ መርገም  አንዱ ካንዱ አያርም ፣ ሚደፋ  ባንድ ቃል ፣ ሚመታ   ባንድ ቃል፤   ጅግጅጋ   መተከል ድሬ        መተከል አዳማ      መተከል ሻሸመኔ    መተከል ማይካድራ    መተከል መቀሌ         መተከል ሁመራ         መተከል መተከል     መተከል ኮንሶ          መተከል  አርሲ        መተከል  መ ተ ከ ል ....... በግፍ ለተገደሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ። 

  On November 15, 2020, at 11:55 AM, Senait Mebrahtu tweeted (in Amharic), “From now on, if you don’t cease what you are doing, I will release a video of you being abused in prison and put you to shame forever.” This tweet was directed at the renowned, award-winning Ethiopian journalist and human rights activist Reeyot Alemu. Reeyot was a prisoner of conscience for five years under the TPLF-led government of Ethiopia. Senait is an active member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that held power in Ethiopia for twenty-seven years until it was ousted by a popular uprising in 2018. That same day, the spokesperson for the TPLF—now the ruling party in the Tigray region—appeared on a regional TV station and threatened to launch rockets into neighboring Eritrea and other targets within Ethiopia, just hours before attacks were carried out on two airports in the Amhara regional state. There are striking similarities between the two threats: both serve as evidence of...

“Like all art that arises from culture, games are deeply political,” writes Alfie Down in her Guardian article entitled Video Games are Political. And according to American Psychology Association magazine, 91 % of children in the United States between the age of 2 and 17 play video games and nationally 99% of teenagers play these games. That is why, according to Erika Schickel, who in her article Grand Theft Mommy recounts her love of virtual games, video gaming” is currently framing the argument for the need to tighten restriction on content and rating video games to protect America’s youth from its immoral influences.” However, the puritan impulses of the society toward sanctifying the field of gaming seems doomed from the start. It appeared not only destined to fail but also headed towards propagating the problem even more. Part of the problem seems to be the fact that “America’s youth” are not a homogeneous group that could be served with “one fits all” protective ruling. T...

Homo-sapiens can be redefined as homo-reflectus i.e. beings living by and for refined reflections of the self. And the 'reflections element' of the species is inherent in what each person ultimately accepts as being human. Examination of this inherent and common reality that one can't avoid living by and can’t imagine life without leads us to the inevitability of transaction of reflection through the currency of given, received, refuted or accepted gazes. An examination into the language we speak, the religion we follow, the philosophies we cherish, the dresses we wear, the lifestyle we follow, the things we feel free to see and the eyes we allow to be seen by, the cinema we prefer to watch, the way we prefer to be seen in the cinema, everything that made us who we are homo-reflectus is a manifested gaze. As bell hooks in the   Oppositional Gaze , puts it,” there is power in looking” because, she quotes Fanon, “This “look’ from - so to speak - the place of the othe...

"I have a special gift for you,” my mother said.  It was the day I turned 18. “Where is it?” I asked, “Wait till the end of the barbecue," she replied; It was the yearly Thanksgiving barbecue night, The urge to fry was high, And the fire was hungry for flesh; The day went as usual; The smell of fried meat churned appetites; Happiness perfumed the air, Laughters ignited candles of conformity; This went on until an eerie silence descended on all at the end of the barbeque. It was a sacred silence where everyone fell into a trance. First, my uncle brought a sealed black urn and a white photo album from the living room and put it at the center of the backyard table Mom told me to sit. And the ritual started: Dad turned towards the garden, where two white Magnolia embraced,  As if they were confiding secrets into each other. He stared at them like a tree whisperer. My Mom sat at the table,  covered her eyes, and ...

All We Need is Excuse     Tariku Abas Etenesh .......................................................................................................................................... "The dustbin is outside for a reason,” he heard a voice. He looked back from where he bent. A girl walked in, passed two rows, and threw herself onto the red padded greying middle seat to the left and slowly squeezed towards the window – face away.   "This isn’t what you think.”  “Trash is trash,” she said without turning.  “This is not a simple bottle,” he said and immediately regretted saying it. It made no sense; at least it would not make sense for her.   “Step back, doors closing,” the train chimed.   For a second, he thought of remaining onboard to explain.   “Step back, to allow the doors to close.” “Good night,” he said and stepped out leaving the bottle rolling on the floor.  When the train sl...

Part One: Leave and Never Come Back! Three years ago—on July 3, 2015, around 10:50 AM—a few (and I stress, a few ) connected, mafia-like members of the TPLF operating within the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines still considered themselves above the law. That day, they used a fabricated “security concern” and a vague accusation of “political tendencies” as a cover for their real motive: ethnic profiling. They sent security officers to my office at the Aviation Academy and literally forced me out, saying only, “Leave” —with the unspoken but clear message: “And never come back.” And I never did. To an outsider, especially someone unfamiliar with the inner workings of the airline, this may sound unfathomable. How could a civilian airline allow a political group to carry out mafia-style operations against its own employees? But I was not alone. Many before and after me have faced similar intimidation and injustice. While these individuals acted under the banner of the TPLF, I want to m...

Ending an eternal pulse of being, we cut the rose; and simulating affection, we force it into a vase; The bee was an afterthought, Nuisance was its  flight; So  was the odor implied romance: A  ruined universe. ………………………………..   By TAE

Ethiopian Politics: No happy ending (Tariku Abas Etenesh) “There are no happy ending in history, only crisis points that pass,” says the famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. History furnishes ample evidence to support his statement especially in the Ethiopian political sphere. This national crisis regurgitation is attributed to not learning from history: much like a fool that does the same thing expecting different results. One such example of a crisis attributed to lessons not heeded from history is currently unfolding in Ethiopian politics: the Ethiopia government’s handling of democracy as synonymous to repression. Conflating state power with the right to stifle people’s rights and expecting people to not react and strengthening the repression. In a country whose leading party controls 100% of parliament seats meeting the demands of the very people with military deployment that morphed into martial law to protect the ruling party from its own people is just a perfe...