Poetry Composition Through Instruction
by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952: for Sitti Khadra, north of Jerusalem My grandmother’s hands recognize grapes,|the damp shine of a goat’s new skin.When I was sick they followed me,I woke from the long fever to find themcovering my head like cool prayers. My grandmother’s days are made of bread,a round pat-pat and the slow baking.She waits…
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By Imtiaz Dharker When I can’t comprehendwhy they’re burning booksor slashing paintings,when they can’t bear to lookat god’s own nakedness,when they ban the filmand gut the seats to stop the playand I ask whythey just smile and say,‘She must be from another country.’ When I speak on the phoneand the vowel sounds are offwhen the consonants…
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by Imtiaz Dharker The place is full of worshippers.You can tell by the sandalspiled outside, the owners’ printsworn into leather, rubber, plastic,a picture clearer than their facesput together, with some originality,brows and eyes, the slantof cheek to chin.What prayer are they whispering?Each one has left a mark,the perfect pattern of a need,sole and heel and…
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(is a zajal by the Sufi poet Al-Shushtari (1212-1269). was an Andalusian Sufi poet. His poetry was designed to be sung, in songs employing simple monorhymes to praise God with everyday musical idiom, which won wide recognition beyond the hundreds of disciples in his own Shushtariyya brotherhood. zajal –Zajal is semi-improvised and semi-sung and is often performed in the format of…
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by Rumi This is the day and the yearof the rose. The whole garden is opening with laughter. Iriswhispering to cypress. The rose is the joy of meeting someone.The rose is a world imagination cannot imagine. A messenger fromthe orchard where the soul lives. A small seed that points to a greatrose tree! Hold its…
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Translated by Coleman Barks What is the soul? Consciousness. The more awareness, thedeeper the soul, and when such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around. It’sso simple to tell one who puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the realthing. We know the taste of pure water. Words can sound like…
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