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The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop
Poem: “The Fish” Poet: Elizabeth Bishop, 1911 – 1979 I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. He didn’t fight. He hadn’t...
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This Is Just To Say – William Carlos Williams
Poem: “This Is Just To Say” Poet: William Carlos Williams, 1883 – 1963 I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so...
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Jilted – Sylvia Plath
Poem: “Jilted” Poet: Sylvia Plath My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My tears like vinegar, Or the bitter blinking yellow Of an acetic star. Tonight the caustic wind, love, Gossips late and soon, And...
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Conversations About Home (at a deportation centre) – Warsan Shire and Ugly
Poem: “Conversations About Home (at a deportation centre)” Poet: Warsan Shire Well, I think home spat me out, the blackouts and curfews like tongue against loose tooth. God, do you know how difficult...
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The Pond by Gregory Orr
The Pond by Gregory Orr : The Poetry Foundation. Snapping turtles in the pond eat bass, sunfish, and frogs. They do us no harm when we swim. But early this spring two Canada geese lingered, then built...
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The Body by Boston Gordon
The Body by Boston Gordon – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics. The Body By Boston Gordon March 16, 2015 There is of course the cutting of the body. Lean away from that for a minute. Stand in...
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“Going Home”– Wislawa Szymborska
“Going Home” – Wislawa Szymborska He came home. Said nothing. It was clear, though, that something had gone wrong. He lay down fully dressed. Pulled the blanket over his head. Tucked up his knees. He’s...
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The dance of Gods
The blood of Mahisasura dripping from her wrists His decapitation each year, year after year I like that story of Krishna At the back of his throat, she could see, the whole universe The sun, moon,...
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Dilruba Pe Dil Aaya
I discovered Dilruba Ahmed’s poetry in the early part of this year and it has stayed with me. The first poem I read was: “Snake Oil, Snake Bite” and it lingered over my days, making me smile at...
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Liars, Cadavers and Vultures
“The liar often suffers from amnesia. Amnesia is the silence of the unconscious.” (Rich, Adrienne. Arts Of The Possible: Essays and Conversations. 32) Cadavers are Useful Things Vultures in wake...
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I Go for a Walk in the Evening While the Body Stays at Home by Alix Anne Shaw...
These wet and windy days aggravate the rheumatism in my joints. I struggle to keep the body at pace with my mind. My mind: the curious two-year old, with the passion of a teenage romance, and the...
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To tell you the truth
I have been writing poems a lot more than I usually do and reworking drafts of old poems. Perhaps due to my PhD work on the ghazal I tend to spend more time on structure and sound. Strict metrical...
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The Miscarriage by Amit Majmudar
Some species can crack pavement with their shoots Source: The Miscarriage “if I consoled you it would make the loss your loss” —– How can Amit Majmudar’s words so relentlessly tangle the insides? Each...
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This is the house that Jack built
Twitter informed me that today is World Poetry Day. Arundhati Roy says, “There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” Thus, I...
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Space, a ghazal in the making
Aged five, an early memory, Rakesh Sharma travelling in space Mrs. Gandhi, he said, India appears best in the world, unravelling in space When I go back home, the Mango tree has shrunk The courtyard...
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Autumn Moments in Amsterdam, 2017 Edition
Fall, leaves, fall By Emily Bronte Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree. I shall smile when wreaths of...
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Teaching the Ghazal in Class
Last week I was subbing at the Vrije Universteit for the Genre, Literature and Analysis class for the Bachelor First Year course. I was teaching the villanelle and ghazal, which involved aspects of...
View ArticleFace Reveal – a Half-Ghazal
Face Reveal – a Half-Ghazal My son, age 10, is into Rumi, and his face reveal The Youtuber who does voices, and HowToBasic’s face reveal Rumi the murid to murshid Shams He whispered, away from all, I...
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Slow cooked realisation
Last month I realised my son Age 11, is almost as tall as me His feet, now, bigger than mine his hands wrap around my fingers Once curled in the nook of my arm he did not even reach in length from my...
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An Open Letter to Ravan on Vijayadashami
Jatayu, Sita and Ravana by Roy, Jamini. Dear Ravan, You of ten heads, master of six shastras and four vedas, blessed by Shiva, with twenty eyes and two hands you rampaged, but today is the tenth day...
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