The Lightness of Ramadan

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

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The Lightness of Ramadan

The lightness of Ramadan,
is like a gossamer blowing randomly in a breeze,
like walking on the moon, gravity barely touching me.
springing then floating with every step..and stopping
to just look and see, all that was missing,
when I was so caught up.
preparing eating, digesting,
that I couldn’t perceive the true aspects,
the colors and depth of anything around me.

Before breaking the fast, everyone is someone else..
Each of us, is changed,
some crankier, more impatient, some docile, some sleepier,
but I am lighter, a spiritual airhead transcending the afternoon.
Lighter, like the paper lanterns swinging in circles, from their strings
like the plastic bags in Jordan, blowing high in the air,
like circling black birds in the desert gusts, of those other-worldly afternoons.
Lighter, as if walking under water…without some mundane thoughts and weights,
I would float away.
Listening to the Quran being recited,
the chanting seems to come from within, and rumbles through me,
as I listen, as I stop to pray as I stop to just feel the day;
every moment is a moment of awareness, a moment of truth .
I am like almost nothing now,
just some thoughts enclosed in wispy feathers…
a spiritual bird who flies higher… the less it eats.

Karima Hoisan
April 14th, 2021 (Ramadan)
Costa Rica

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments

My Poem, “Attitude,” On Spillwords Press

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

Screen Shot 2021-04-14 at 10.13.49 AM

I am once again very grateful to Spillwords Press for publishing my fourth poem,
“Attitude” on their site. I invite my readers to visit their site and read it there….
Attitude can be everything…can’t it?
Click the link to read “Attitude” on Spillwords Press

Posted in Announcements, General Discussion, Poems, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Ramadan Kareem! Ramadan Mubarak!

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

I am reposting this because it holds much nostalgia for me. Because of Covid,
this year, I will not be in Jordan with the family.
This picture was taken in 2007.
Ramadan begins tomorrow inshAllah.

Prayershot_001
Ramadan Gift (Triple Cinquain) 


<<*>>


As one

our family

breaking fast with prayers
  all kneeling in our living room
sublime

“Allah!”
my brother’s voice
now an angel chanting
tears blur my eyes in ecstasy
divine

Silence
our bodies speak
perfection in movement
heads press the floor in unity
Ameen

  Karima Hoisan
Jordan 2007

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Indifference

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

Indifference: a dull blade, the petite agony, a paranoia trap, with spring latch

I’m not avoiding you; it’s not always about you, so lighten up.

I’m busy and first things first, then I just need some time to relax.

I’m not looking at you…why would I? I’m not even sure that we’ve met!

Indifference: a slap across the face with a silk glove

It’s a complex dance, with rigid steps moving backwards.
It’s an intricate dance with much movement from side to side.
Twirl your partner than walk away and forget who she is, another day.
You are the fish who doesn’t need to take the hook; swim away.

Indifference: To play it, you have to really feel it; It must live inside.

I’m not playing hard to get; I am hard to get, so that is that.

I think you’re OK, but I’m just not really interested in knowing you better.

I believe you are confusing me with someone who has a heart.

Indifference: Run away!…can bring tears, confusion and self doubts.

It’s a complex dance, with rigid steps moving backwards.
It’s an intricate dance with much movement from side to side.
Twirl your partner than walk away and forget who she is, another day.
You are the fish who doesn’t need to take the hook; swim away.

Karima Hoisan
April 12, 2021
Costa Rica

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Dark, Fluff & Snug

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

tree-branches-3drender-scene
Dark, fluff and snug are impressions in my memory.
Squished so tight, but all safe when the wild wind blows.
All the different songs, near and far; I wonder which one I will sing?
That fluffy weight above us, is a stopper for the raindrops;
It’s a warm shifting bulk, that keeps us from the sunlight.

This is my life, I’m sure there is not much more to it.
I am not alone, but in some ways I am totally on my own.
My head pushed down, I sleep in the essence of dirt and twigs,
the sounds of night, make me anxious for the new day’s light.

Then it happens, no longer blocked, I am starving, so I push up.
I stretch my neck as high as the sky above, we all outdo each other.
The morning bathes us as we open our mouths like choirboys, “Me! Me! Me!:
The heavy one is back, with worms for each; mine goes down just perfectly.

Please Click here to see:)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibhzn9gfo1k3w2a/babybirds.jpg?dl=0

Karima Hoisan
March 29, 2021
Costa Rica

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The Cold Road-A Song with Images

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

O.K.
I am really putting myself out here:)  as this is my singing debut on my blog, YouTube, The Universe. Be kind:)
From the moment I wrote this as lyrics on March 15th, I knew I had to sing it…but  well, I am not a singer, still I had to do it, in my own Garage Band style. I recorded my Yamaha piano on my iphone (smiles) so that set the feeling of an old timey, Bluegrass or Folksy Country Song. I recorded 3 voice parts and spent DAYS trying to balance and sync it. I added a string part I played in Garage Band and the sound of my mournful Toucans in the backyard. Images were from Google.
This, is as close as I can get I think..so I published it on YouTube for your listening(hopefully) pleasure. Crosses her fingers:)

Posted in Machinima, Poems, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

I Miss Violet

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

Violet at Wanderstill

I miss Violet…
the days of Violet..
when she roamed the streets and shops and forests,
the innocence of a brand new world,
building itself without a plan..
When all was new and the virtual world
was a looking glass that I fell into.
Violet fell in too.

Instead of mirroring who we were,
this looking glass
reflected who we could be,
who we wanted to be.
It was another kind of truth, the kind, not easily seen.
Violet knew.

She morphed into a subtle ray of grace,
was caring, loving, funny.
She stalked me, with interest,
and what I thought a coincidence
was her best shot.
Two random strangers on a bench
circled by butterflies, saying hello the first time;
Violet made this happen.

And then all the rest happened on its own,
for all was possible in this second life.
This life was shaped more by us, than fate
and yet, we realized our destiny was tied.
We changed our bodies, like costumes
and tried on everything.
I was still a poet,
Violet still an artist.

The best virtual years for me,
were when she was by my side.
My best friend, my love; we decorated Everything,
and how we danced!
Bogarts Ama dips Violet
We threw ourselves from planes, and landed in fields of flowers.
We were dreamers in tandem and lucid,
but one day she took off her costume,
the one that made her mine, then….
Violet,  was gone forever.

Karima Hoisan
March 23, 2021
Costa Rica

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The Cold Road (Lyrics)

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

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The Cold Road

You broke my heart, even though you didn’t want to.
I know you love me, just maybe not in ways that I do.
Without intention, you said some things that hurt me.
My heart is fragile, it comes apart too easily.

These are thoughts that come and go, when I walk down the Cold Road.
Without a heart to beat, each day for me, is just another heavy load.
The birds are calling out, because they’re about to fly away tomorrow;
Wish I’d be going with them, and find somewhere that’s kinder with less sorrow.

You think I’m needy and no longer stand up on my own,
No longer fun, am becoming one more burden you bemoan.
I don’t mean to add on, to all the eyes that watch you in your day,
I’d close mine forever, in the hope that you won’t up and go away.

I seem to be the last one, to know what you are thinking.
We are so different and I forget that when I’m sinking.
I feel bad now, that I didn’t see the truth or tried to hide it,
another foolish soul, blinded by love, that’s so one-sided.

These are thoughts that come and go, when I walk down the Cold Road.
Without a heart to beat, each day for me, is just another heavy load.
The birds are calling out, because they’re about to fly away tomorrow;
Wish I’d be going with them, and find somewhere that’s kinder with less sorrow.

Karima Hoisan
March 15, 2021
Costa Rica

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If These Walls Could Talk…

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

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          Photo by Poett

If These Walls Could Talk

Someone once said, ”If these walls could talk…!”
They would write a trillion one- act plays,
each one set in its own time and space..
with its unique characters method acting every line..

How we planned and laughed and invented meetings just to be together!
How we mourned the ones who passed, honored the old and sang songs and loved;
With our hands in the air gesturing wildly,  we relived that soccer game we just won,
We shared art, stories, tragedies, and why we’d be close forever, never to be forgotten.

The table strewn in tea cups and coffee mugs. and plates of FOOD we passed around;
we were a Latin episode of “Friends” that you will never see,
but we were the best of them..and this was our room,
this is where we made the magic and we were family!

In the morning it fills with the light of the East..
the formal colors come alive
in orange, yellow and indigo madness.
Any bad vibes that might have snuck in at night,
are purged and cleansed by this persistent sunlight,
painting the floors and tables, in two coats of COLOR.

This living room is once again, ready to receive you.
I promise you will fall right into a couch and decide to never leave.
It’s the best host, the warmest receiver, the comfortable friend you have known for years..
This living room has its own spirit; it has had it forever…and I take no credit for that.
I just threw in some furniture, a long time ago… and then it came alive.

Karima Hoisan
March 13, 2021
Costa Rica

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In One Puff

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Karima Hoisan

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In One Puff

The everyday..the simple, the light changing and coloring the room,
for a few minutes pure silence as the traffic mysteriously disappears.
I find I’m holding my breath in anticipation, of what? I’m not sure.
Now, the wind has hushed, the birds seem to be listening; I’m listening too.

The muse rustles the bushes, plays hide and seek on the shadows,
camouflaging, then revealing, she makes her way through my backyard.
What a very ordinary day, she has chosen, there’s nothing exceptional..but her.
Newborn birds, express an interest, wide-eyed in innocence they follow her light.

I don’t want to scare her away, so of course, I pretend I haven’t noticed,
her circling and twinkling as she traverses the lawn, hiding inside the palms
I feel she is teasing me and at the same time, answering my unconscious plea
It’s been some time now, since I fell into a poetic flow, and was carried away.

Have you ever seen your muse smiling as she approaches, all zig zag and playful?
I hope for at least a whisper in my ear, some idea, that I might use and call my own.
She is laughing and blows through my screen and in one puff, stands in front of me.
“So, you wish to write a poem today with nothing new to say? Done. Just sign it”

Karima Hoisan
March 12, 2021
Costa Rica

Posted in General Discussion, Poems, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments