karimisms

-1- Carpe diem

She said to seize the day
when I found her
smiling back at me
on my computer screen
I wanted to seize the day
and be with her
I wanted 
to be with her
but I had to seize something else
my feelings 
my smiles
my anticipation
that maybe
just maybe
one day I would meet this beauty
wrapped in tender sweetness
and smart wit
she wants poetry
and poetry she will get
on the hour
every hour
in my mind and in my heart
poetry she will get
by the breeze going North
and by the wings of butterflies
Poetry she will get
when she feels the sun on her face
and when she reads Tolstoy
who said: “love is God”
if love is God
Then I am a proffet
delivering a message to my beloved
That I will send her verses
from the Koran
from the bible
and from every book of our maker
so I can let her know
in all the languages God invented
that I am in love
with her
at this very moment
which I seize.
______________________

-2- Symphonies of Love

You tell me 
love is a symphony
I ask
where is the melody?
where is
the melody?
of your voice
whispering in my ear
waking me with passion
notes cannot explain
or fathom

You tell me love 
is a symphony
I listen
I hear it 
loud in the silence
of my total
infatuation with you
loud in the silence
of notes not on a page
but in my heart
going up and down 
and down and up
making sounds 
only you can hear

You tell me
love is a symphony
I hold my violin
trying to say something
but your face is smiling
you can already hear
the music
with my bow touching no strings

The music between you and I
is based on essence
on surreal understanding
with no words
and no notes
and no instruments

we both want
but cannot have
and that my darling
is just too beautiful

Lets remain silent 
let the music play
not to our ears
but in our hearts
and then one day
when I look into your eyes
and our lips melt into each other
the symphony will be  heard aloud
by the entire universe
__________________________

-3- My muse

My muse knows not
what affect she has on me
I had erected walls
around my soul
but they came tumbling down
when I saw her picture
when I sensed her
dancing to Shakira
next to me

My muse knows not
how she has rocked
my ebb and flow
of yummy lines
describing her
saying to all
I am in love
with someone 
whose voice I have heard not
and with someone
whose face I have touched
not

My muse knows not
I am a master chef in
Algerian and French cooking
even if in my head
the plates will exude stature
transforming the egg salad
into a Pot de Creme
and the bologna sandwich
into a Berber and Moorish concoctions
as we feast 
on delectable edible 
lust

Mu muse loves black
to no surprise
the color of mystery
the color of history
of Shahrazad
and Egyptian wonders
the color of dreams
as they carry me into 
her surrender
the color of love
in waiting

My muse says 
a little prayer
sending me vibes of comfort
and wishes of the day
we become a reality
until them
the dreams will continue
in black
and I will feast
on egg salad
and bologna sandwiches
as I watch the walls
tumbling down
_______________________

-4- Coffee Shop

I am sitting at the Coffee Shop trying
to think of anything other than you

but I can’t shake you out of my mind
turning my sunny and day a little blue

but rest assured my dear it is not
the color of sadness, for it is true

that rainbows only come out when
it rains, shimmering with a mixed hue

even the prisoner caterpillar in the cocoon
will turn into a butterfly all a new

with colors only the maker can decipher
gorgeous and stunning causing an ooh!

The metamorphous of my love my darling
will simmer my world into a vibrant stew

of all of my emotions and all of my love
and all of my lines I write for you.

And as I take my last sip of coffee
I look in the bottom of the cup and woooo!

if it isn’t a little heart in the center
left by the grounds as if they knew.
____________________________

-5- The Call

The call finally came
with the lobster roll
and while Jim sat alone
in the middle of a
busy and loud place
no one understood the magnitude
of this call
it was the first time
I talked with the woman
I have been dreaming about
while I am awake.

She sounded
french and british
with a little Arab mixed in
but the most beautiful thing about
her voice was
her poise
her class
her confidence
her humor
her wit
and her adorable lovable self
the self I must talk to again
the self I must know again
for the first time

I stood in the bathroom
looking at myself in the mirror
while I tried to stay in one peace
while I tried to sound cool
even though my heart was ablaze
That green hip bathroom
was where our first conversation took place
now that is funny
not because it was green
but because it was just there
with two guys waiting outside

Now I have her voice
to ad to the mental picture
I am assembling of my beloved
It is as if there is a hand
at play
keeping things to a minimum
it is as if
the hand of God
is keeping things in small doses
but again
maybe that is a good thing
because in the past
the big doses led to nothing
they led to heart break
they led to my heart
deciding to wait
for someone I would have to take in
a little at a time
as painful as that is
as “my-God-that-is-so-not-me” is
it is beautiful

So keep it coming Anissa
whose name sings
and who is keeping a little town
in Wyoming tonight
happy
_________________________

-6- words

She said my words
lifted her up high
she does not know
that her words
shoot up into the heavens
of intoxicating thrill
and smiles
and trust
and lust
for more smiles
and more thrill
and more trust

She said my words
are bright
she do Uplifting Moments
es not know
that her picture
in my mind
competes with sun
every morning
stealing the light and saying
it is my turn
for I am
his sun today

She likes my words
what she doesn’t know
is that I like my words
when they are about her
when they spill out
as if I was a hard drive
programmed to love her
and tell the entire world
that I do
in languages
I don’t even know

She is going to tell me
all I want to know
will we have enough time
I will need lots of time
more time that God has given us
more time than Adam and Eve had
more time than the dinosaurs had
I will need two seconds to say it
and a lifetime to express it
and another lifetime
to hear her whisper
in my ear
the words that will make
the rivers of homey flow
into and out of my world.

Free until it hurts

We could come up with many reasons tom be thankful this upcoming “American” holiday, although, one previlage rises above all others.

We could be thankful for our family and friends, who take us as we are, and who love us despite our shortcomings.

We could be thankful for the fact that we have many of the things that many countries do not:

Education, as lagging as that one is behind countries in the far east like Japan, China, and India; we still have an education system free to the public. One that does a fair job in preparing our youth for tomorrow. We should definitely be thankful for some of our most dedicated teachers who day in and day out instill great virtues in our children with very little pay and very little reward.

Health care: Yes…. there are many problems with this one. But did you know that many countries do not even know of the concept? I grew up in Syria, and we are just now recognizing that this is a service, which should be provided. Yes…we can do a better job making health care available for everyone, but the fact it is available for many cannot be denied.

Economy: This one goes up and down, and people lose their jobs during the rough times. But we also revel in booms for years. And the long-term outlook for the economy of this country is an upward line despite some dips and corrections. If we work hard, we are rewarded fairly. As simple as that may seem, it is not the case in many places on this earth.

We should be thankful for those privileges, and yes they are privileges not to be taken for granted. But we should be extremely thankful for one privilege this country offers to all of its citizens regardless of color, race, economic status, education, or any other measure of existence:

Freedom.

People who live here as well as abroad can criticize America for many of its policies. Iraq has not been the success it was hoped to be. The country is divided on whether it was a noble cause or a quagmire of death and destruction. Whichever side of the fence you are one, the fact remains that those 18 and 29 year olds on the front lines have the belief that they are granting someone else what they have in abundance. Never mind the motives of the government and how much we can argue the oil issue and the weapons of mass destruction issue, somewhere in the middle of the chaos, an Iraqi citizen today was able to say something he would have been arrested for uttering before.

Syria is considered to be a free country. Despite the partial freedom we had, there were things you just did not say and do. Things are much better now, and we have people expressing their opinion freely most of the time, but under supervision and with a certain liability attached. Many countries around the world suffer from this partial freedom syndrome. America does not. We do have plenty of ills in this society with heroes working daily to correct them. But we do have freedom, and for that; we should be thankful.

We revel in what I call: Free until it hurts freedom.

In the year 2000, I photographed a rally on the steps on the Jefferson County Court House steps. The people assembled to voice their opinion were heavily guarded by Birmingham city police. There were fences erected to keep outsiders from getting too close and disrupting the rally. Police lined up with gas masks and guns ready to protect and serve. The group protesting on the Court House steps was not preaching progressive ideas. They were not shouting great mantras or uplifting messages. They were cursing a certain race out.

They were the KKK.

But as a country which honors freedom of expression, we not only allowed this action, but we protected. I watched that day with my skin crawling from the hatred they were spewing out. I wanted them to disappear into their own absurdity. But part of me rejoiced in the fact that anyone with any message can be heard. I wanted to climb the fence and take them out myself, but I would have been arrested. It is not the virtue you are instilling that matters, it is the action of expression.

In America, we are free…free until it hurts. That day hurt many people from many races around this city. But not to notice the freedom umbrella hovering would be foolish.

We have two parties in our government, which criticize and attack each other daily. They have the freedom to express their opinion no matter what. If a congressman disagrees with the president, he can just do that. He can even tell everyone. In some countries that can be the last action he takes.

Pakistan is a timely example where the leader can just stop the flow of freedom and declare marshal law. What he is unaware of is that the freedom he is holding tight in his fist could be the reason for his fall in the near future.

Democracy is much stronger than the will to contain humanity. Democracy is innate, and many will struggle and lose their lives to achieve it. We should never forget, and we should say thank you every day because we have it.

We should let our children know they have it, and that others don’t. We should teach them what freedom is, and what not having it can lead to. We should open their minds to those concepts, which many young ones do not even recognize. We should take them with us when we vote, and put the “I voted” sticker on their shirt. We should never let them take for granted what some people give up their lives to acquire.

This upcoming “American” holiday is one of my favorites because it reminds me of what I have here…freedom until it hurts.

Peace and love should not be considered radical ideas.

As fourteen Arab delegates converge on Washington this week to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the world holds its breath…or does it?

There is not denying that if the debate over land and refugees is settled, and if the Palestinians and the Israelis learn to live together peacefully; that the entire Arab world will benefit. Actually, the entire world will. We have seen what imbalance of power and Western intervention can do to a nation as present in the endless Iraqi situation. Democracy, freedom, and security are wonderful aspects of life that everyone should enjoy, but you must willingly accept them and be ready to embrace them.

Many countries in the Middle East remain in volatile situations. Syria may not even participate in the summit due to the fact that the Golan Heights is not on the agenda. Lebanon’s political situation is in disarray, and the country is still recovering from the recent Israeli attacks. Egypt’s parliament now has representatives from Hamas, a group considered terrorist by the Bush Administration. The West Bank is completely taken from the control of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party.

And there is the Palestinian refugee crises which surpasses any refugee crises in recent history. They are the millions of people born and living in absolute nothingness. Most countries around them refuse to acknowledge even their existance. When they are helped, they are helped as long as they don’t become too loud or too obvious.

I remember growing up is Damascus and being told by family and friends not to go to the “Mukhiam”, the camp. The camp mentioned was where the Palestinians lived, and what everyone else tried to ignore and deny as a reality. They have very little in the basic infrastructure needed for survival. They are also denied employment keeping them in status quo.

These delegates from the Arabian countries will sit in one room with American and Israeli leaders and try to arrive at a solution. The task is huge with massive reprocutions and implications. Last time they were in one room was during the Bill Clinton era, with mild results.

Some say that Arabs and Israelis should look forward. They should forget the dark and bloody past both people have endured, and look towards a bright and peaceful tomorrow. The problem with that argument is when you take it down to the level pf a Palestinian refugee or an Israeli boy who watched his mom or dad being savagely killed. When you consider the millions of refugees in the Palestinian camps with absolutely no reason to live. When you consider walking the streets of a Jewish city near the Lebanese border and watching a shower of missiles rain. When you consider all the horrific details of existence in that part of the world, chances are that forgetting the past becomes difficult.

What is the solution then? What will these delegates and world leaders talk about, and what will the tone of the conversation be?

To the Arabs, the solution is fairly simple: If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders declared by the United Nations as the rightful borders for the nation of Israel, and if they allow the Palestinians to declare themselves a soverign nation with East Jersusalem as the capital, the Arabs will agree to the existence of the Jewish nation. However, a small block remains in the way.

Certain political powers in the Middle East, like Hamas in the West Bank and Iran, refuse to acknowledge the existence of Israel, and they remain defiant as they watch their countries and people perish due to their unbending stance.

When will these leaders realize that most of their people want peace. When will they realize that the babies born in their countries know no hate. They are taught hate by the elders, and they grow up to carry on the deadly wishes of those elders who themselves were born knowing no hate.

It is a viscous cycle, which must be broken for everyone to live together.

The upcoming Peace Summit could have phenomenal results affecting the lives of millions of people. That is exactly what these leaders meeting in Washington this week remember. They are in power not because they are powerful, but because they were granted the power by their people. Yes, the definition of democracy varies in the Middle East, but as we have seen in Pakistan, when the people want to be heard, they will find a way. The leaders should consider the virtues of giving, of humility, of sacrifice, of tolerance, and of love.

These virtues have forged the way in the past for millions to follow people like Moses, Mohamed, and Jesus establishing the three religions with many common threads. These virtues have also established leaders like Ghandy, King, Mother Teresa, and the Dali Lamma as ones with no hunger for power, but a huge desire for peace. They moved millions of people by saying little. Could power be a paradoxical? The more you force on your people, the more they loathe you? Pakistan again…

If we only listened to the voices of the past…maybe we can learn something new…maybe we can live together.

Maybe we will consider that peace and love are not radical ideas.