“Make declarative sentences from these words,” declares Mr. Golden
1. contains a universe
2. sand, concrete, horizon
3. I dream
4. blue, clear
My brain contains a universe
I dream in Spanish of white sand beaches
The ground I walk on is hard concrete
but between the tall buildings, on a clear day,
I can still see the blue horizon.
“Maria, you are a poet,” declares Mr. Golden
~Judith Ortiz Cofer
In the heart of this chaos
With the maddening crowd below
You flee behind my overcoat
And it is in this moment
Where dilated pupils meet palpitating hearts
Like sea shores meet wandering tides
Like the moon and Sun dance circles around the Earth
Like two passing strangers whose hands graze each other innocently
Amidst the concrete jungles of Amman
Flirting with the white surf like brown eyes fluttering
Like two tongues stuttering
Like my words
Spin your mind
Like your reason
Spins my rhyme
And.
We .
Run.
18
all of which untitled.
By the way, I had a great weekend. thought provoking conversations. silly laughs. interesting people. silly talks. tamer hosny’s ba3ish (i have a story with this song. i love it. it reminds me of Palestine), milk, WTF moments, coffee, food, Whatever moments, poetry, music, let’s get it over with moments,
Here in pictures of night one (Jan 21, 2009) of two (Jan 22, 2009), Marcel Khalife’s (who studied in Lebanon - at Beirut National Conservatory of Music and not in Russia) world Premier of his operatic work Ahmad Al-Arabi from Mahmoud Darwish’s epic poem, Ahmad Al-Zaatar, in which Darwish documents, in 1977 (and not during the first invasion of Lebanon by the Zionists), the 1976 siege and massacre at Tal Al-Zaatar…
Lebanese composer and singer Marcel Khalife performs during “Ahmed Al-Arabi Concert” in Damascus January 21,2009 in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The proceeds from the concert will go to aid Palestinian victims of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Picture taken January 21, 2009. Picture taken January 21, 2009. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi(SYRIA)
Lebanese composer and singer Marcel Khalife (C) performs with singer Omaima al-Khalil as conductor Mesak Baghbodian (back to camera) leads the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra during “Ahmed Al-Arabi Concert” in Damascus January 21, 2009 in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The proceeds from the concert will go to aid Palestinian victims of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Picture taken January 21, 2009. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi(SYRIA)
Lebanese composer and singer Marcel Khalife (2nd L) performs with singer Omaima al-Khalil (R) as conductor Mesak Baghbodian leads the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra during “Ahmed Al-Arabi Concert” in Damascus January 21, 2009 in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The proceeds from the concert will go to aid Palestinian victims of the Israeli offensive on Gaza. Picture taken January 21, 2009. From Reuters Pictures.
Listen to samples of Ahmad Al-Arabi here and purchase here.
And thank me here…
Historical Background: Tal Al- Za’ atar (the Hill of Thyme ) was the largest Palestinian refugee camp established in 1948 in the northern part of what became Christian East Beirut during the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990. According to the Lebanese Forces website, “June 29 1976 saw the camp at Jisr el Basha fall and then efforts were directed against Tal al-Zaatar, one of the largest Palestinian camps in the country and situated on the Christian side of the Green Line. The battle for Tal al-Zaatar was the final showdown between the Palestinians and the Lebanese Front in Beirut. Tal al-Zaatar contained about 2,000 Palestinian guerrillas intermixed with a civilian population of roughly 15,000 facing them were some 4,000 Lebanese Front militiamen. The Lebanese Front were supported and advised in the siege by the Lebanese and Syrian armies; Israeli advisers were also present.” On August 12 1976, after 7 months of siege, Christian forces overran the camp. At the end of the siege, about 2,000 Palestinians were killed and 4,000 wounded. The surviving civilians were deported to Palestinian held areas as the camp was entirely wiped.
What: A Tribute to Gaza - Marcel Khalife’s world Premier of his operatic work Ahmad Al-Arabi from Mahmoud Darwish’s epic poem, Ahmad Al-Zaatar. Darwish documented the 1976 siege and massacre at Tal Al-Zaatar in his poem, Ahmad Al-Zaatar.
When: January 21st & 22nd, 2009
Where: The Opera House in Damascus - Syria
Who: Marcel Khalife: composer, oud, vocals
Oumaima El Khalil: vocals
Bachar Khalife: percussion
Accompanied by the National Syrian Symphony Orchestra &
The Choir of the National Conservatory of Music
Conducted by Missak Bagbodarian
For information on tickets: www. damascus. org. sy
All proceeds go to benefit the children of Gaza.
Worldwide reading in memory of Mahmoud Darwish on 5 October 2008
The Berlin International Literature Festival is appealing for a worldwide reading of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry on 5 October 2008. This appeal is directed at cultural institutions, radio stations, schools, universities, theatres and all other Darwish enthusiasts all over.
Readings on 5 October will be held in:
Australia | Austria | Bangladesh | Canada | Egypt | France | Germany | India | Italy | Kenya | Macedonia | Morocco | Norway | Palestine | Russia | South Africa | Spain | Sudan | Switzerland | USA | Zimbabwe [More]
Where is Jordan? Lebanon? Syria?
You can have a reading of your own, too.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this Picasso masterpiece sitting on a shelf in my friend’s living room…picked it up, dusted it off a bit (the nerve of him neglecting such masterpiece), placed it on his counter top, and admired it as some parts of Wallace Stevens’ The Man With The Blue Guitar came to mind … then took a picture of it with my phone … then I overdosed on 1.5 pounds of fried shrimp…
One
The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, “You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are.”
The man replied, “Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
Fifteen
Is this picture of Picasso’s, this “hoard
Of destructions,” a picture of ourselves,
Now, an image of our society?
Do I sit, deformed, a naked egg,
Catching at Good-bye, harvest moon,
Without seeing the harvest or the moon?
Things as they are have been destroyed.
Have I? Am I a man that is dead
At a table on which the food is cold?
Is my thought a memory, not alive?
Is the spot on the floor, there, wine or blood
And whichever it may be, is it mine?
-From Wallace Stevens The Man With the Blue Guitar
Daisy Rae Gemini developed by Root.designed by Iman
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