Categories
Uncategorized

Diploma for my poem,  Book’s Visionary

Thank you for the honor and your hard work.

Book’s Visionary

Creating a world with paper and pen,
I watch my vision evolve to stun in a den
Of books, windows to the unknown,

They litter the shelves, organized
In alphabetical order for all it’s simplified,
But those unique books, mine, and those grown

In power as time passed, and some
Tried to surpass their Ideology that come
With experience, social living, wearing a crown

Of knowledge,  practicality, friendship
That coalesce Into strong leadership
As your intellect expanded with the blown

Exposé of things that seem foreign
As your experience is limited to the line
Of things taught to you not learned with a frown

As you explore its meaningful message
While you look at other references, not a cage,
To amplify your understanding its daily application

Not just learning but doing, changing.
That’s the purpose of books of all genres, rebelling.

©️Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

My poetry book, Perfectly Flawed poetry for change, is available on all eplatforms including Amazon.  It was on the finalist list for the Canadian Book Club Awards 2023.

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518

Categories
Uncategorized

Accolade for my poem,  Blue’s Castle

Thank you for the honor and your hard work.

Blue’s Castle

On a baby blue sky day, the castle
Enrobed in golden rays shining
Off arched windows, bright ball
Reflecting the lives, deaths that call

Out to the living, teaching wisdom
From history etched on walls,
There’s always a place and time
For all around to learn and come

To conclusions that help the living
Improve their plight by learning
From history’s lessons without any whispering
Of war or fight that has corpses lying

Out of sight. The whale statue adorning
The outer walls, inviting, spontaneous warning:
All to enter its domain, peering
Into a long gone era of traversing

Centuries of wisdom runs into
The Renaissance era of science
That delves into all that’s tangible, a foe
To faith that’s documented in books that grow

In importance, for the morals
Within are a blessing for the intelligent,
Who want to reduce their workload, calls
Out that learning from experience isn’t a falls.

©️ Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

My poetry book,  Perfectly Flawed poetry for change,  is available on all eplatforms including Amazon.  It was on the finalist list for the Canadian Book Club Awards 2023.

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518

Categories
Uncategorized

Honored to be among these poets for my poem: Mission Escape, 

Thank you,  administrators,  for the honor and your hard work.

Mission: Escape

Whenever mankind faces existential problems
They have two possible opposing reactions:
Escape the present, and start somewhere else;
Or alter your priorities to advance survival of humanity.

Historically,  when Europe wanted to get rid of criminals,
They placed them on a boat to the then ‘savagery’
Of North America,  where indigenous people
Roamed freely, thriving without the need
That are imposed by the ‘guests’ who shot
And killed indiscriminately to take over the lands.
From this grew capitalist society that takes
Advantage of its population to grow in powers.

Today, there are no undiscovered territories or unexploited ones.
So … What recourse does humanity have for its survivals?
All that’s left is space, Mars, our closest Neighbor
Is millions of miles away with an uninhabitable atmosphere.
Technology is advancing at such an exponential rate
That a mission to Mars is a proven possibility.

Man’s an ostrich!!!!
He hides from his problems rather than face them!
Instead of spending billions on fixing earth,
He spends hundreds of billions on space travels.
How can we progress if we can’t solve our obstacles?
Civilizations will die down because of this,
And people’s acceptance of change is in paralysis.

©️ Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

The Face of the Moon

Between late afternoon and twilight
The moon’s light is up for a fight!

It looks like a crescent of many shapes, flew:
Waxing Gibbous, First Quarter, to name a few.

Craters of darkest gray shadows,
That creep out of craters and crows

The light with its raven blues
Darkening, as the sun downs

Into dusk and gradually
Becomes a steeped ebony.

When the craters become prevalent
In the face of the moon that lent

A smile to its ever raven hue,
The smile grows into a grin that few

Can erase,  as its cheer seeps
Into the skin, eliminating frowns that are bleeps.

©️Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518

Categories
Uncategorized

History of the Holy Land, Palestine/ Jerusalem

A friend, Cvija Peranovic, wrote a magnificent text about the history of the Holy Land and which religions it pertains to✍️
It must be read 

️☮️️☮️️☮️️☮️️☮️

CANAAN LAND (HOLY LAND)

The land of Canaan is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia. 
It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest, representing the border between Asia and Africa to the west of the region is the Mediterranean Sea, and the exit to the Red Sea is to the south.
The southern part of the Holy Land is dominated by the Negev desert. 
In the northern part of the Negev desert is the Judean desert, which, on the border with Jordan, also contains the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth. 
The land of Canaan is of great religious significance for Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha’i faith.  The four holiest cities of Judaism are Jerusalem, Hebron, Tsvat and Tiberius. 
The Romans renamed this country Syria Palestine, which is where the name Palestine comes from. 
Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina.  The holiest Jewish location and place of pilgrimage is the western wall of Solomon’s Temple, known as the “Wailing Wall”. 
The Holy Land is significant for Christianity because it is mentioned in the New Testament as the place of birth, enlightenment, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians consider the savior or Messiah. 
Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus;  Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified and resurrected;  Basilica of the Annunciation in the Galilean city of Nazareth, the birthplace of Jesus, as well as the location of the holy places Church of the Basilica of the Annunciation and Mary’s Chapel, also Tiberias and Capernaum, Tabor, the place of the Transfiguration of Christ and Jericho;  The Room of the Last Supper and the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. 
Another important place for Christians is the Jordan River, the place of Christ’s baptism.  Jerusalem is also a holy place for Muslims, where in the first few months of Islamic history, the Al Aqsa Mosque was considered the first Qibla (place of prayer), opposite the Kaaba in Mecca. 
Both Jerusalem and Al Aqsa are considered holy in Islam. 
In Arabic, Jerusalem is known as Al Quds.  Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad traveled at night from al-Masjid il-Haram in Makkah to Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and ascended to heaven from that place. 
In the Al Aqsa Mosque, the Prophet performed Salah (prayer) with all the Prophets of Islam and then ascended to heaven, called Miaraj. 
The Baha’i World Center is located around Haifa and Acre in Israel. 
The center of the world consists of the Temple of Bahá’u’lláh, located in Bahja near Acre, Israel and the holiest site of Bahá’í, which represents the Qibla (place of prayer), as well as the Shrine of the Baba and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, as well as many other buildings, such as Bows.

Each city of the Holy Land has its own identity, its sacred places worthy of respect, scenes of divine revelations and miracles, betrayals, battles and conquests, from Bethlehem and its biblical significance as the birthplace of Jesus Christ to ancient Jericho, the oldest city in the world.  It is a land of culture, history and a beautiful blend of religions.

Categories
Uncategorized

History of the Victor

What historical event fascinates you the most?

Each historical event is told from the victor’s perspective. That, unfortunately, always overlooks the degradation, destruction, inhumane treatment of the ‘other’, and the installation of a way of thinking that reduces the aggressed to a creature that lacks human characteristics. Examples of this are historically documented, from the Romans, Moguls, British, French, and more recently German, Russia, and Israel. They all invaded, divided, conquered, then they leave with their stamp that is un-erasable, as they instill a belief in the conquered that they are less than the conqueror in: civilization, language, religion, knowledge…

I’d like a version of history that’s unbiased, just, honest in its retelling of historical facts and events that occurred, rather than the beautified/ bastardized versions taught in schools that promote and propagate the conqueror’s agenda.

Below are links to my poetry book, Perfectly Flawed poetry for change, and an anthology that has one of my poems:

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518

Unseal Your Greatness
https://amzn.to/47RpSFt

Categories
Uncategorized

Butter and sugar sandwich

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

Whenever I have a pita, butter, sugar sandwich, or sweetened condensed milk, I feel like I’m 7 years old again. I’ve always had a sweet tooth that hasn’t changed!

I still love my sweets, but my palate has evolved to become a bit more sophisticated. Now, I love sweets, but those homemade, like the mamoul I made for the upcoming Eid. Left is a semolina cookie stuffed with walnuts, sugar, and orange Blossom water; right, date semolina cookie. The smell sent me back 4 decades as my mom used to do the same, still does.

Categories
Uncategorized

HELP

Help, help, help,
I wear my cloak of impotence,
Running around, graceless,
As I try to graduate from a whelp.

Help, help, help,
I thought friends, likes, and kin,
Support me in my endeavors in
Achieving success, only to fall and become strep.

Help, help, help,
Recession  is looming
People worried about famine
And every person is on a flip,

Help, help, help,
The other facet of war, hunger
Lingers and throws you back in rapport
To WWII, when all sectors crashed and none slept.

Help, help, help,
Entertain your soul with faith
Leaping into despair with a breath
Percolating freshness and sweeping away dejection.

Categories
Uncategorized

Identity

Categories
Uncategorized

Books Serve

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.” -Abraham Lincoln

Books Serve

Books are a great way to improve your linguistic ability, as well as widen your horizons by using your imagination. No idea in a book is really ‘new’, even Shakespeare only had 3 original concepts for plays, while the others were borrowed from previously written works or histories. This does Not mean that borrowing an idea and altering it to fit your story, theme, action, … is wrong, it just means you needed a starting point. Another example is when contests are themed, or have a word or expression that needs to be used in your work. Does that mean you’re stealing from others or using ‘it’ as a starting point? The result of these contests is that over 20 different perspectives are given by the variety of writers. Are they all plagiarizing when their content is so vastly different? ‘Turn it in’ is another way that teachers and professors assess that your work is at least 80 to 85% your actual writing and not borrowed or copied.

So, tell me what you think about using an idea as a starting point.