Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark that looks at temptests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown although its height be taken.
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle's compass come;
love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even till the end of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved
Then I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
-William Shakespear
May we love with the audacity of a Shakespearian sonnet.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
War of Words
The gravity of words wrapped in the brevity of time
weighs heavy on my heart in pursuit of my mind
As sentences pull me into their core
and break me down like I've broken them before
They deconstruct me to discover why I've constructed them
While I borrow their letters and put my trust in them
as we put our trust in God.
I am the general to their army, revolution to their cause
We charge against oppressors
To put them on blast we blast bombs of expression
Words as ammunition, I pull the trigger to my pen and--
Flood the battlefield with ink bullets
POETIC WARFARE
We told you that it's war here
because we will not be complacent to your occupation
We will not let you steal the hearts of nations,
erasing compassion to replace it with hatred
We will not be left waiting for your promised revelations that will never come
We stand firm when you tell us to run
with enough courage to throw stones down the barrels of your guns
My army and I are one
Essence intertwined, poetically inclined
designed to invade your mind with rhymes
and make you pay mind to your mind
fine tuning perception until you see signs in the signs
We break words to break nerves of those who try to break us
That's why I cook verses in my basement
Elements full of boiling statements
Waiting to be fed to hungry nations deprived of soul food
I put my creations into their palms so they can hold food
I write their stories of liberation with the same pen I use to liberate them
Words will be put in their appropriate cages--withing lines of pages
I put syllables behind bars, breaking grammatical norms
they are my prisioners of war
We manipulate existing structures that confine us, strive to define us
As we find us behind bars that align us
Unifying as freedom fighters
We live outside our cells breaking shackles of prisions
We are the listners, the observers, the voices
We are the senses making sentences out of senitments to erase the senselessness
We are the temperment that calmed your nerve when your temper went
Same ones that taught you struggle for your benefit
We are the knowledge that taught you corruption is the currency of most of the world's presidents
but knowledge comes with the responsibility of self betterment
To be better than the self that resisted resistance in the face of your spiritual-psychosocial-emotional afflictions
See these depictions are beyond diction
They are affirmations of our commitment to truth
Where troops fight superficality with substance,
opression with justice
Words are weapons of the struggle
They can self-destruct if you let them muffle
They can paralyze ambitions with the same pen that wrote them
if you don't provoke them into action
For what good is a lyrical bomb if you don't know how to blast it?
Revolutions are never passive.
We need to actively dissect the lessons of our introspections
and wage war on those that work against us
Tell them with conviction: "your word is out and you can't protect it
So ink will be shed on your deception
Our veins are full, we load our pens as we inject them,
and drain your MTV and CNN...the venom that we were drenched in,
You're greatest weapon, expression, is now in our possesion.
So where are your armaments? infecting our arteries or aimed back with no pardoning?
We will not apologize for reclaiming our freedom
We speak because our silences applaud your treason
We refuse to be reasons for the prepetuation of misinfomation
Reducation is the primary strategy in our mission
So we launch missles of wisdom
Hoping to find minds in search of provision
Minds in starvation from the famine of your control"
So this. is. war.
A war. of. words.
Because words have weight.
Their value is in their mass.
So don't purchase a heavy weapon if you lack the strength to grasp.
weighs heavy on my heart in pursuit of my mind
As sentences pull me into their core
and break me down like I've broken them before
They deconstruct me to discover why I've constructed them
While I borrow their letters and put my trust in them
as we put our trust in God.
I am the general to their army, revolution to their cause
We charge against oppressors
To put them on blast we blast bombs of expression
Words as ammunition, I pull the trigger to my pen and--
Flood the battlefield with ink bullets
POETIC WARFARE
We told you that it's war here
because we will not be complacent to your occupation
We will not let you steal the hearts of nations,
erasing compassion to replace it with hatred
We will not be left waiting for your promised revelations that will never come
We stand firm when you tell us to run
with enough courage to throw stones down the barrels of your guns
My army and I are one
Essence intertwined, poetically inclined
designed to invade your mind with rhymes
and make you pay mind to your mind
fine tuning perception until you see signs in the signs
We break words to break nerves of those who try to break us
That's why I cook verses in my basement
Elements full of boiling statements
Waiting to be fed to hungry nations deprived of soul food
I put my creations into their palms so they can hold food
I write their stories of liberation with the same pen I use to liberate them
Words will be put in their appropriate cages--withing lines of pages
I put syllables behind bars, breaking grammatical norms
they are my prisioners of war
We manipulate existing structures that confine us, strive to define us
As we find us behind bars that align us
Unifying as freedom fighters
We live outside our cells breaking shackles of prisions
We are the listners, the observers, the voices
We are the senses making sentences out of senitments to erase the senselessness
We are the temperment that calmed your nerve when your temper went
Same ones that taught you struggle for your benefit
We are the knowledge that taught you corruption is the currency of most of the world's presidents
but knowledge comes with the responsibility of self betterment
To be better than the self that resisted resistance in the face of your spiritual-psychosocial-emotional afflictions
See these depictions are beyond diction
They are affirmations of our commitment to truth
Where troops fight superficality with substance,
opression with justice
Words are weapons of the struggle
They can self-destruct if you let them muffle
They can paralyze ambitions with the same pen that wrote them
if you don't provoke them into action
For what good is a lyrical bomb if you don't know how to blast it?
Revolutions are never passive.
We need to actively dissect the lessons of our introspections
and wage war on those that work against us
Tell them with conviction: "your word is out and you can't protect it
So ink will be shed on your deception
Our veins are full, we load our pens as we inject them,
and drain your MTV and CNN...the venom that we were drenched in,
You're greatest weapon, expression, is now in our possesion.
So where are your armaments? infecting our arteries or aimed back with no pardoning?
We will not apologize for reclaiming our freedom
We speak because our silences applaud your treason
We refuse to be reasons for the prepetuation of misinfomation
Reducation is the primary strategy in our mission
So we launch missles of wisdom
Hoping to find minds in search of provision
Minds in starvation from the famine of your control"
So this. is. war.
A war. of. words.
Because words have weight.
Their value is in their mass.
So don't purchase a heavy weapon if you lack the strength to grasp.
Friday, November 26, 2010
"If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything"
Malcolm X said it best. Without prinicples, we are lost sheep. So when our principles are challenged and liberties denied, to remain silent and immobile (about it) is a crime against ourselves...
One of such instances is occuring now in light of the Quebec government's Bill 94, which aims to deny essential services to women wearing Niqab (face veil worn by many muslim women). The point here is not whether Niqab is Fardh or sunnah...it is not a matter of your personal preferences, rather, a matter of standing up for what is right and protecting the liberties of all, regardless of your personal beliefs or practices.
No/Non Bill 94 Week of Action
"Bill 94, is being touted by the Quebec Government as a step toward gender equality. If Premier Charest’s government is truly committed to gender equality it must foster a safe and inclusive society that respects a woman’s right to make decisions for herself. Standing up for women’s rights is admirable. "Rescuing" women is paternalistic and insulting.
This further marginalizes Muslim women who wear niqab and denies them access to social services, economic opportunities and civic participation, which is unacceptable and oppressive. Forcing a woman to reveal part of her body is no different from forcing her to be covered. We demand that Bill 94 be withdrawn immediately, as it has no place in a democratic state that values autonomy, liberty and justice. In light of the Bill 94 hearings starting up again, we are calling on all coalition members to help us spread awareness about and mobilize against Bill 94."
The above is an address from the Non/no bill 94 Coalition, an action group created in opposition to the bill.
For more information concerning the Non/no bill 94 coalition and what you can do to support this movement visit http://nonbill94.wordpress.com/resources/
To sign a petition created to prevent the passing of this bill visit:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nonbill94/
(may have to copy&paste the URL...link isn't working, sorry!)
"Think globally, act locally" Apathy is unacceptable.
One of such instances is occuring now in light of the Quebec government's Bill 94, which aims to deny essential services to women wearing Niqab (face veil worn by many muslim women). The point here is not whether Niqab is Fardh or sunnah...it is not a matter of your personal preferences, rather, a matter of standing up for what is right and protecting the liberties of all, regardless of your personal beliefs or practices.
No/Non Bill 94 Week of Action
"Bill 94, is being touted by the Quebec Government as a step toward gender equality. If Premier Charest’s government is truly committed to gender equality it must foster a safe and inclusive society that respects a woman’s right to make decisions for herself. Standing up for women’s rights is admirable. "Rescuing" women is paternalistic and insulting.
This further marginalizes Muslim women who wear niqab and denies them access to social services, economic opportunities and civic participation, which is unacceptable and oppressive. Forcing a woman to reveal part of her body is no different from forcing her to be covered. We demand that Bill 94 be withdrawn immediately, as it has no place in a democratic state that values autonomy, liberty and justice. In light of the Bill 94 hearings starting up again, we are calling on all coalition members to help us spread awareness about and mobilize against Bill 94."
The above is an address from the Non/no bill 94 Coalition, an action group created in opposition to the bill.
For more information concerning the Non/no bill 94 coalition and what you can do to support this movement visit http://nonbill94.wordpress.com/resources/
To sign a petition created to prevent the passing of this bill visit:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nonbill94/
(may have to copy&paste the URL...link isn't working, sorry!)
"Think globally, act locally" Apathy is unacceptable.
Peace.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Breakword. 28/10/10
We break words to break nerves of those who try to break us.
Thats why I cook verses in my basement.
Elements full of boiling statements.
ES courtyard, UW 6-9pm
...28/10/10. God willing
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Viscosity
How much blood do you have?
Nations have searched for it to quench their thirst
while hearts circulate its stories
but how much of it is stored and how much is pouring?
How much is shead internally without you knowing?
Nations have searched for it to quench their thirst
while hearts circulate its stories
but how much of it is stored and how much is pouring?
How much is shead internally without you knowing?
Monday, September 27, 2010
A Timely Transition
Bismillah...
We enter with urgency
Like the certainty of a calling
As we’re falling out of time
Seconds remind minutes that they exist together
While hours remind days that they won’t live forever
We evacuate with urgency
Like fear has become our currency
As we’re purchasing lies at the cost of our souls
Minutes remind seconds that they must aspire to be them
Seconds remind hours that they will always leave them.
The earth will swallow even our hollowness.
Nothing runs like time, yet immobile are most that follow it.
We enter with urgency
Like the certainty of a calling
As we’re falling out of time
Seconds remind minutes that they exist together
While hours remind days that they won’t live forever
We evacuate with urgency
Like fear has become our currency
As we’re purchasing lies at the cost of our souls
Minutes remind seconds that they must aspire to be them
Seconds remind hours that they will always leave them.
The earth will swallow even our hollowness.
Nothing runs like time, yet immobile are most that follow it.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Reflection 1: Reasons
Bismillah,
Amidst all the anguish, the toil, the conscious dreaming, quests for truth, sweat of labor, delightfully bizarre ideas…there lies the reason. It is as simple and as complicated as a heartbeat.
Amidst all the anguish, the toil, the conscious dreaming, quests for truth, sweat of labor, delightfully bizarre ideas…there lies the reason. It is as simple and as complicated as a heartbeat.
The Dream. 30/10/2010
"Apathy is not welcome here" -Hodan Ibrahim
Join me on October 30th as a witness of The dream--a showcase of creative activism through film and art by Spoken word artist Hodan Ibrahim.
Where? Ottawa's National Art Gallery
When? Sat, Oct 30th @ 7pm
Price? $25
Hodan's blog: http://www.wordsandrevolutions.blogspot.com/
For more information about The Dream read this article by Hodan Ibrahim published in Muslim Link ...http://www.muslimlink.ca/life/leisure/calling-all-dreamers-ottawa-poet-to-launch-showcase-of-spoken-word-activists
Be a witness.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
On Pain --Khalil Gibran
Poetry like this makes me question the audacity with which I call myself a poet...
............................................................................
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break,
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life,
your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard,
is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips,
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
*this piece is labeled as a "feature poem" (written by another) not to be confused with an "original poem" (written by myself). The distinction is in the label below for future reference.*
............................................................................
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break,
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life,
your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard,
is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips,
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
*this piece is labeled as a "feature poem" (written by another) not to be confused with an "original poem" (written by myself). The distinction is in the label below for future reference.*
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Poets of the World
Bismillah...
You breathe into the ventricles of my heart.
And so with the blessing of your exhalation
I carried you essence heavy within my ribcage
Who knew air could weight so much?
Perhaps your speaking through it gave it mass
Where none was there before
And its deliverance to a heart in need of respiration
Gave purpose to parting lips
And compressed diaphragms
They who dared speak the unspoken
Dared to live the unbelievable
And carve its possibility into realistically doubtful minds
Wonderment, honestly, splendour with every stroke of the pen
Every documented philosophy
Where dreamers wake the sleeping
And sleepers learn to dream
Where the language of hope is spoken
Whispered in metaphors
Into the depths of the soul
A place that imprisons ignorance and converts disbelief
A city of truth speakers, freedom and peace seekers
Rebels to the conventional schools of thought
Swimmers in pools of hearts
Where most float just to get by
Forgetting to connect valves and aspire to inspire.
But, you…never would you let yourself float lifelessly in such vastness
You…
The dwellers of this place called Passion.
You breathe into the ventricles of my heart.
And so with the blessing of your exhalation
I carried you essence heavy within my ribcage
Who knew air could weight so much?
Perhaps your speaking through it gave it mass
Where none was there before
And its deliverance to a heart in need of respiration
Gave purpose to parting lips
And compressed diaphragms
They who dared speak the unspoken
Dared to live the unbelievable
And carve its possibility into realistically doubtful minds
Wonderment, honestly, splendour with every stroke of the pen
Every documented philosophy
Where dreamers wake the sleeping
And sleepers learn to dream
Where the language of hope is spoken
Whispered in metaphors
Into the depths of the soul
A place that imprisons ignorance and converts disbelief
A city of truth speakers, freedom and peace seekers
Rebels to the conventional schools of thought
Swimmers in pools of hearts
Where most float just to get by
Forgetting to connect valves and aspire to inspire.
But, you…never would you let yourself float lifelessly in such vastness
You…
The dwellers of this place called Passion.
Prayer song --K'naan feat. Mos Def
Bismillah ...
"Before I had my breakfast I saw they murdered justice and asked me to accept it"--K'naan
Beautiful message, beautiful words. Why there are only 1700 youtube views is beyond me.
Listen to the words, let it fill your heart and allow reflection to fill your mind, God willing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5TvxHCYaCM
(peep the vid in the link above, sorry I couldnt load the actual video on this page)
<3
"Before I had my breakfast I saw they murdered justice and asked me to accept it"--K'naan
Beautiful message, beautiful words. Why there are only 1700 youtube views is beyond me.
Listen to the words, let it fill your heart and allow reflection to fill your mind, God willing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5TvxHCYaCM
(peep the vid in the link above, sorry I couldnt load the actual video on this page)
<3
Thursday, April 8, 2010
somewhere in the biosphere...
Bismillah..
Somewhere in the biosphere
Lost protesters build tents with picket signs
To protect dreams of freedom
Somewhere they are doing more than dreaming
Scribbles on soil washed away with tears streaming
Yet we cannot see them
Vision impaired by our seasons of ignorance
As visions prepare for seeds of excellence
Growth embellishes knowledge
Knowledge enveloped in spiritual progress
And the beauty of the living conscious
An open heart concept
Surgery of the promise to dissect out darkness
And implant light where the heart is
Our greatest conquest is authenticity in the amidst of all this
Somewhere in the biosphere
Your victory could not polish the hardships
So innocents were tarnished
On your behalf
You raised hell before asking heaven for forgiveness
And the ones who escaped your brand of luxury are better off
For they saved their hearts from masked savagery
how many soon-to-be mothers witnessed the calamity?
covering the skin of their bellies with cold hands,
in hopes that strength would be found there and give endurance to weak bones?
A kick of mercy is all that was needed
Somewhere in the biosphere
Poetry is written backwards on windows,
For the world to read into
As people take to the streets,
Dancing to heartbeats
Hope propelling movement
As poetry and prose materialize into notes
And flood the avenues that are travelled through
Where philosophers would observe journeys
And attempt to understand their lessons
And ordinary folk are just as ordinary as the paths they are trekking
Avenues where freedom and slavery intersect at a dead end
And you must choose which to walk down,
Only to discover all the streets are named this way
With the power to set free or enslave
And intersections are frequently paved
Somewhere in the biosphere we have road maps of scriptures
An absolute truth to frame a fading picture
For it will dissolve biosphere and all
Somewhere in the biosphere
Lost protesters build tents with picket signs
To protect dreams of freedom
Somewhere they are doing more than dreaming
Scribbles on soil washed away with tears streaming
Yet we cannot see them
Vision impaired by our seasons of ignorance
As visions prepare for seeds of excellence
Growth embellishes knowledge
Knowledge enveloped in spiritual progress
And the beauty of the living conscious
An open heart concept
Surgery of the promise to dissect out darkness
And implant light where the heart is
Our greatest conquest is authenticity in the amidst of all this
Somewhere in the biosphere
Your victory could not polish the hardships
So innocents were tarnished
On your behalf
You raised hell before asking heaven for forgiveness
And the ones who escaped your brand of luxury are better off
For they saved their hearts from masked savagery
how many soon-to-be mothers witnessed the calamity?
covering the skin of their bellies with cold hands,
in hopes that strength would be found there and give endurance to weak bones?
A kick of mercy is all that was needed
Somewhere in the biosphere
Poetry is written backwards on windows,
For the world to read into
As people take to the streets,
Dancing to heartbeats
Hope propelling movement
As poetry and prose materialize into notes
And flood the avenues that are travelled through
Where philosophers would observe journeys
And attempt to understand their lessons
And ordinary folk are just as ordinary as the paths they are trekking
Avenues where freedom and slavery intersect at a dead end
And you must choose which to walk down,
Only to discover all the streets are named this way
With the power to set free or enslave
And intersections are frequently paved
Somewhere in the biosphere we have road maps of scriptures
An absolute truth to frame a fading picture
For it will dissolve biosphere and all
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The dreamers of dreams
Willy Wonka: The strawberries taste like strawberries, and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries.
Veruca Salt: Snozzberries? Who ever heard of a snozzberry?
Willy Wonka: *We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams
Veruca Salt: Snozzberries? Who ever heard of a snozzberry?
Willy Wonka: *We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams
And so again naked expression commands my pen
Poetry month.
Poetry goes beyond April.
but let's see the poems April showers.
I will post my top two poems of each week of this month, God willing, and share my growth with you.
Peace, <3
Poetry goes beyond April.
but let's see the poems April showers.
I will post my top two poems of each week of this month, God willing, and share my growth with you.
Peace, <3
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Recipe for Compassion--Part one
In the name of the Most High..
This is an excerpt from part one of a triology I am working on...
Dissect your heart out and put it on a spaceship
Send it to a dying star before its death
Then tell it to watch its explosion and reflect on it
It will say “God is great” only seconds in
Cause it was created to know what we forget in sin
Let it collect the stardust God has left it in
Take heart valves and use them as suction
And once the stardust is in blow it through to ventricles
Stuff it in both atriums
You will then awaken love
Then keep it in your heart until it’s soft
Once love rises put heart back in a spaceship
As it watches stars in outer-spaces
Send it back to earth as an alien but teach it the basics
Evidence is salient that you’re out of place
But you come in peace to collect pieces of broken freedom where you see them
When assembled they’re called a Revolution
So add passion to the solution
Wait for the savage intrusion of inspiration
Allow it to take no prisoners in your spaceship
Tell them of the stars as they are star gazing
And how you were once among them in a sort of matrix
Tell them it was a dream but also reality
When they ask you for the evidence
Tell them it’s in your heart
This is an excerpt from part one of a triology I am working on...
Dissect your heart out and put it on a spaceship
Send it to a dying star before its death
Then tell it to watch its explosion and reflect on it
It will say “God is great” only seconds in
Cause it was created to know what we forget in sin
Let it collect the stardust God has left it in
Take heart valves and use them as suction
And once the stardust is in blow it through to ventricles
Stuff it in both atriums
You will then awaken love
Then keep it in your heart until it’s soft
Once love rises put heart back in a spaceship
As it watches stars in outer-spaces
Send it back to earth as an alien but teach it the basics
Evidence is salient that you’re out of place
But you come in peace to collect pieces of broken freedom where you see them
When assembled they’re called a Revolution
So add passion to the solution
Wait for the savage intrusion of inspiration
Allow it to take no prisoners in your spaceship
Tell them of the stars as they are star gazing
And how you were once among them in a sort of matrix
Tell them it was a dream but also reality
When they ask you for the evidence
Tell them it’s in your heart
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The soul reason
Don't fear that monster inside you that wants to be beautiful, it's only your soul.
Tell it to pay attention when your heart is speaking...
that giants are not incubated...
that revolutions are as simple as heartbeats...
that the mind and heart must converse to ignite change.
Tell your soul this is war but its not enough to fight it.
We must win.
Tell it to pay attention when your heart is speaking...
that giants are not incubated...
that revolutions are as simple as heartbeats...
that the mind and heart must converse to ignite change.
Tell your soul this is war but its not enough to fight it.
We must win.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Haiti Relief fundraisor in the Student life centre!
Bismillah...
I will be performing at another Haiti Relief fundraisor March 9th in the Student Life Centre great hall of the University of Waterloo (9:00pm). So if you missed the first few come out to this one! This is not a ticketed event but donations will be accepted for the cause. There will be over 20 artists performing at this event so it will be an explosion of raw artistic expression! Don't miss out! If you're reading this and you're in the KW area I hope to see you there, God Willing.
For everything that I have been blessed with....all praise is due to the Most High.
Peace&love
I will be performing at another Haiti Relief fundraisor March 9th in the Student Life Centre great hall of the University of Waterloo (9:00pm). So if you missed the first few come out to this one! This is not a ticketed event but donations will be accepted for the cause. There will be over 20 artists performing at this event so it will be an explosion of raw artistic expression! Don't miss out! If you're reading this and you're in the KW area I hope to see you there, God Willing.
For everything that I have been blessed with....all praise is due to the Most High.
Peace&love
Monday, March 1, 2010
S.O.S. Haiti fundraisor
If you are in the Kitchener-Waterloo area please come out to the Smiling over Sickness (S.O.S.) coffeehouse at POETS lounge (CPH building) for Haiti Relief this Thursday, March 4 from 7-10pm! Tickets are $5, $6 at the door. I will be performing "Tears of Ink" and my newest piece "The Witnesses". Clothing donations can be accepted in place of money for the tickets. Please support SOS in this effort to raise funds towards the Haiti Relief effort!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Urban Legends Poetry Slam
Bismillah...
This week I will be in Ottawa for the Urban Legends Poetry Slam on Friday, February 12th from 6:30-9:30pm. The Slam will be held at Roosters cafe at Carlton University so if you're in the Ottawa area come out and support God willing! Hopefully if I make the first round I will be attending the semi-finals in April (inshaAllah) for a chance to join the slam team at the nationals. I am very grateful for this opportunity and appreciate all the support I am recieving regarding taking this leap towards my poetry career. I have much work to do in preparation so...BACK TO THE LAB! I will keep you posted.
Peace & love
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And then you discover my humanity
I remember the days you used to look up to me,
And believe I was invincible
The days of old
My ego wishes it could continue selling you this illusion
But my heart cannot bear the lies,
This disguise that you were banking on
Is nothing but a ploy of pride
Reality looks the same through my eyes
I don’t prophesize,
I don’t epitomize
My strength wavers
Like when waves of a tide subside
We are all broken in different ways
Yet there are different mending’s in our minds
As time sends wires and connections
Calculating our unique similarities
My heart beats close enough to yours
To know that you are alive and deserve preservation
We are students of each other as we teach the world
Our chalk board in sands
We document history with our footprints
And record albums with the melodic blending of our pulses
I feel all this as I let go of your hand
And inhale your expiration
And believe I was invincible
The days of old
My ego wishes it could continue selling you this illusion
But my heart cannot bear the lies,
This disguise that you were banking on
Is nothing but a ploy of pride
Reality looks the same through my eyes
I don’t prophesize,
I don’t epitomize
My strength wavers
Like when waves of a tide subside
We are all broken in different ways
Yet there are different mending’s in our minds
As time sends wires and connections
Calculating our unique similarities
My heart beats close enough to yours
To know that you are alive and deserve preservation
We are students of each other as we teach the world
Our chalk board in sands
We document history with our footprints
And record albums with the melodic blending of our pulses
I feel all this as I let go of your hand
And inhale your expiration
What Darwin left out
I have never been an evolutionary theorist
But a revolutionary nearness…
brought me to the real theory of evolution
The poet’s solution
Solely intruding to be a part of its documentation
A revelation
As I evolve towards patience and away from stillness…
although the two often are mistaken as kin.
Again I begin…
As I unfold my promises to understand the origins
Dusty from negligence
Rusty from regret
Lucky to be led…
Through this thriving matrix
Intoxicated in its mystery
I strive to witness my soul but I can’t picture me
Only some angles have been revealed
Shadows make the rest unreal
I have been evolving for years.
Just like dreams at the tip of my pen
That refuse to cry when I’ve neglected them
Because they are stronger than the failure that has tested them
I want to feed off their strength and meet with them in secret
Somewhere close to my heart, yet slightly beneath it
So we can look up at the bloody mystery it is and seek it
Within an internal cavity…
We will discuss love and possibilities.
But a revolutionary nearness…
brought me to the real theory of evolution
The poet’s solution
Solely intruding to be a part of its documentation
A revelation
As I evolve towards patience and away from stillness…
although the two often are mistaken as kin.
Again I begin…
As I unfold my promises to understand the origins
Dusty from negligence
Rusty from regret
Lucky to be led…
Through this thriving matrix
Intoxicated in its mystery
I strive to witness my soul but I can’t picture me
Only some angles have been revealed
Shadows make the rest unreal
I have been evolving for years.
Just like dreams at the tip of my pen
That refuse to cry when I’ve neglected them
Because they are stronger than the failure that has tested them
I want to feed off their strength and meet with them in secret
Somewhere close to my heart, yet slightly beneath it
So we can look up at the bloody mystery it is and seek it
Within an internal cavity…
We will discuss love and possibilities.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Haiti relief benefit concert!
Bismillah...
A very talented singer-songwriter, Foyo Jama, is holding a Haiti relief benefit concert (sponsored by AFRSA and BASE) this thusday, January 28th from 8:00-9:30pm in the Student Life Centre (SLC) multipurpose room at the University of Waterloo in hopes of raising awareness and to fundraise for the wide-spread Haiti relief effort after the devestating January 12th 2010 earthquake that shook the haitian nation. I will be performing my poetry at this event God willing. The pieces I will be performing are "Poetry and Promise" (which you can find in the archives of this blog) and "Tears of ink". This is not a ticketed event but donations will be accepted. Please come out and support this cause as well as your local (for those of you in the KW area) artists!
Peace & Love
Auditory Visuals
Oh but if we were so wise to…
Open up our eyes to…
Other than what our eyes knew
It might surprise you
The moments that work to define you
As you mine through…
Trying to find truth
It is just as much ahead as it is behind you
It is just as silent as a mime’s muse
But you must still listen with your eye’s view
To teach them what they know not
What you thought was unfertile knowledge
…until your mind grew
It is as easy as blinking to clear your vision
Sounds dance before your witness
Conga line straight into your soul
Carrying a message of the cure for blindness
Straight into you soul
Breathe this way to see this way
This respiration is pivotal
Marking a constellation of contemplation
I see stars in my visuals
It’s criminal to deprive my soul of this starry night
I hear it loud and bright
The sounds of light
It makes beautiful music in my heart’s symphony
This piece (peace) is called epiphany.
Open up our eyes to…
Other than what our eyes knew
It might surprise you
The moments that work to define you
As you mine through…
Trying to find truth
It is just as much ahead as it is behind you
It is just as silent as a mime’s muse
But you must still listen with your eye’s view
To teach them what they know not
What you thought was unfertile knowledge
…until your mind grew
It is as easy as blinking to clear your vision
Sounds dance before your witness
Conga line straight into your soul
Carrying a message of the cure for blindness
Straight into you soul
Breathe this way to see this way
This respiration is pivotal
Marking a constellation of contemplation
I see stars in my visuals
It’s criminal to deprive my soul of this starry night
I hear it loud and bright
The sounds of light
It makes beautiful music in my heart’s symphony
This piece (peace) is called epiphany.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Source of Freedom
Bismillah
realizing freedom ...
I subscribed to the task knowing little of its challenge
its reality flourecent...beaming from cupped hands
making promises and pleas for better days
I knew little of its commitments
Until I relapsed
Scratches on my palms that I once would stare at for hours
seem like less than the life lines they are
because I intrepret them as mere wrinkles when I relapse
yet I can see the plusating truth in the centre
As I place it on my heart to try and syncronize the beat
before realizing that they are of the same source.
realizing freedom ...
I subscribed to the task knowing little of its challenge
its reality flourecent...beaming from cupped hands
making promises and pleas for better days
I knew little of its commitments
Until I relapsed
Scratches on my palms that I once would stare at for hours
seem like less than the life lines they are
because I intrepret them as mere wrinkles when I relapse
yet I can see the plusating truth in the centre
As I place it on my heart to try and syncronize the beat
before realizing that they are of the same source.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The spectacles
States...changes in emotion and form that I revisit
Where I state my mission sent by ambition
The gardens through which minds have driven
but withered are the roses that I envisioned
When I rose from my slumber to see that I's (eyes) imprisioned
My eye can't witness so I'm blinking through an idle prism
Where the light shone too bright,
disperesed through my transistions
Positions shifting upon the chess game that I've conditioned
While Im trying to make sense of it all...the flight and the fall.
Landing is possible...
everything is just as lost as it is logical when you overthink the obsticles
Walls are felt, not seen.
If senses make sense, then I hear concrete and smell the sky
clouds tell condense stories, then cry
dancing in air...suspended like dreams
in a realm out of reach...
This my mind can teach
My heart can unlearn
This pen is my chisle...
I will carve poetry into your walls until they collapse
This pen is my needle...
I will pump poetry into my heart until it understands.
Where I state my mission sent by ambition
The gardens through which minds have driven
but withered are the roses that I envisioned
When I rose from my slumber to see that I's (eyes) imprisioned
My eye can't witness so I'm blinking through an idle prism
Where the light shone too bright,
disperesed through my transistions
Positions shifting upon the chess game that I've conditioned
While Im trying to make sense of it all...the flight and the fall.
Landing is possible...
everything is just as lost as it is logical when you overthink the obsticles
Walls are felt, not seen.
If senses make sense, then I hear concrete and smell the sky
clouds tell condense stories, then cry
dancing in air...suspended like dreams
in a realm out of reach...
This my mind can teach
My heart can unlearn
This pen is my chisle...
I will carve poetry into your walls until they collapse
This pen is my needle...
I will pump poetry into my heart until it understands.
Friday, January 15, 2010
REinvention
A lack of sweat, blood, tears, and submission led to the demise of my day
We can do better: I market this to my soul.
beyond us is forever, behind us is lost opportunity to work on getting there
How do I find eternity in good spirits?
How can I feel it when blankets surround me?
Covers of illusion, a colorful intrusion
takes me from depth of thought to amusment
profundity slipping between time and space to land into an abyss
I count the divine conversations I've missed
memory is jaded,
all I remember is there is something I am forgetting
all I forget is the only thing important to remember
There is not enough here to build an empire
Theres a need for expansion
I want a skyscraping development so my mind can kiss skies and imagine
So the heart can be greater than what it fathoms
until feeling sweat, blood, tears and submission become its standards
We can do better: I market this to my soul.
beyond us is forever, behind us is lost opportunity to work on getting there
How do I find eternity in good spirits?
How can I feel it when blankets surround me?
Covers of illusion, a colorful intrusion
takes me from depth of thought to amusment
profundity slipping between time and space to land into an abyss
I count the divine conversations I've missed
memory is jaded,
all I remember is there is something I am forgetting
all I forget is the only thing important to remember
There is not enough here to build an empire
Theres a need for expansion
I want a skyscraping development so my mind can kiss skies and imagine
So the heart can be greater than what it fathoms
until feeling sweat, blood, tears and submission become its standards
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Feilds of Concrete
Passion
Revolves around my heart with no direction
Sometimes a wandering recollection
Sometimes a dream I’ve dreamt in
Love
Finds homes within my ribcage,
I pray it finds passion
I fear I’ve forgotten it long enough to cry now
Fear
That I am not what I expected
That there is not enough of me
That I am stuck on me
That this poem is only about me
Sincerity
Is what I question everyday
To the human limitation…
There are no fields of concrete.
Revolves around my heart with no direction
Sometimes a wandering recollection
Sometimes a dream I’ve dreamt in
Love
Finds homes within my ribcage,
I pray it finds passion
I fear I’ve forgotten it long enough to cry now
Fear
That I am not what I expected
That there is not enough of me
That I am stuck on me
That this poem is only about me
Sincerity
Is what I question everyday
To the human limitation…
There are no fields of concrete.
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