Poetry for ChangeWhat’s your favorite thing about yourself?
I’m tenacious about things I believe in. Plus, if I know I’m capable of achieving a goal, I work hard, even if it means I fail several times before attaining my objective. Case in point, my writing!
Author of poetry book, Perfectly Flawed, poetry for change
https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518
Farther, frantic, frivolous, funny
Arbitrary, amazing, amorous, angry
Terrified, terrific, tutor, tumble, true
Healing, hearty, heavenly, hotheaded
Embrace, empower, enormous, encouraging
Rare, rowdy, resolute, resolved, remembered
All of these and more apply to a Father.
A day a year is never enough to appreciate
All he does for his family.
Sacrifice is his middle name,
Silent support is his first,
Power and strength are his last name,
A pillar of wisdom is his endgame.
Author of poetry book, Perfectly Flawed https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518
Describe one of your favorite moments.
I waited 9 months to meet her. Through my swollen belly, cramps, hot flashes, sweats, and excruciating pain, I finally got to hold her, Fida is her name. She’ll be 29 at the end of August, but the second she was placed in my arms, she became all mine. Her smell, her tiny fingers, toes, arms, tummy, diapers, and sweet voice. Even when she cried, she was quiet, calm, and too cute for her own good. She made me a mother, teacher, friend, mentor, who surpassed her loving mother.
That moment is still ingrained in my heart and mind. I take it out when I’m down, peruse the happiness, joy, fear, and the miracle of birth, and know that the world will make a positive turn, in which it will revere the family unit, it’s simplicity and loyalty.
What is your favorite season of year? Why?
It’s the season when leaves fall and the changing colors in the scenery is breathtaking. The reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and greens are such a wondrous eye opener for the time when things fall, they then take the time to slumber, rejuvenate, and soak up nutrients of the fall. Never fear, after each fall, there’s a renewal that’s even more astounding in its diversity that calls itself mother nature.
Love its moods, strengths,and giving nature that gives us clean air, beauty, and a healthy respect for mother’s power over us.
Describe your dream chocolate bar.
I’m already salivating just thinking about it! The chocolate has to have a smooth, rich taste that coats your tongue, leaving an after taste of cocoa sweetness that will keep my happy endorphins doing cartwheels. When I’m craving chocolate, I prefer it to have no other aromas or tastes added to it, or it will take away from the flavor of the chocolate.
I’ve always been like a kid at the candy store when I search for just the right choice of chocolate bar when I need it most. That’s why I’ve written an Accrostic poem for CHOCOLATE
CHOCOLATE
Crave choco’s chocolate, Having a hit is heavenly indeed Over the open bar Covered in crumbs of chocolate, the Overely delicate flavor Leaves nothing to be desired. Ate, eat, happily jumping Through the hoops of a sugar high while Every child, man, and woman love their chocolate fix.
What quality do you value most in a friend?
The most important qualities in a friend, to me, are honesty and unfailing support no matter the situation. Those 2 are the building blocks of true friendships, for then, acceptance of faults and misbehavior become easily explainable and forgivable.
Friends
Fiendishly friendly, forever fearless, fever
Reverent, relief, reliable, readier
Involved, immovable, impossible, independent,
Empower, everlasting, encouraging, endearing,
Needing not lonely, knowing, negotiation,
Decisive, dragon-like, dangerous,
Solid, sturdy, subtle, spoken, spontaneous,
All are parts of being friends,
So much more there is that’s unbearable
Without them, as secrecy, lies, and envy
Have become the norm, while friends
Have become a rare commodity
Whose currency is spiteful and speaks
Loudly of material gain instead of friends.
Exert from my poetry book, Perfectly Flawed: poetry for change
https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518
What are you good at?
The first 3 have the same base, that of a nurturer. I love having people around enjoying a welcoming and comfortable ambiance that’s conductive to discussions. I also love being a mother, as there’s a great amount of give and take, learning and teaching that takes place in that type of relationship. Mostly, I love giving out hugs to all my babies and extended Family, mostly ;).
As for teaching, it combines the above 2 and taught me that friendship comes in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Some of my students continue to text me after over a decade having gone by. The best feeling as a teacher is knowing you’ve connected with your students and built a rapport that lasts.
Finally, my writing comes from the above 3, as I’m an introvert who has difficulty saying the right thing in a conversation, so I relegate my feelings and observations to my writing.
I watch as she pirouettes,
Her dress, a parachute, flies
In waves to her flutters.
Her sensual beauty attracts
An audience, not for her moves,
But for the supplication in her eyes.
They shine with an inner peace
That translates into a pace
Shinier than the purest diamond face.
My gaze is glued to her flexible
Limbs that have divined that the rain bubble
Ensconces her in a world where trouble
Is an abstract concept she’s never
Experienced, as her innocent cover
Protects her as she adds prayer to the dancer.
As her body flows, swings, undulates,
She hears titters on her esthetics.
She says: ‘Believe in a faith that provides
Truth and dares to challenge lies.’
They then turn away and bicker,
Having forgotten why she was a riveting picture.
©️Malak kalmoni chehab ©️
How do you balance work and home life?
As a teacher, after the day ends, I need time to recover my patience for my kids, so siesta! Yes, archaic, traditional, maybe, but it actually works. After waking up, I feel rejuvenated enough to be able to help my kids with their work with enough patience, I hope! My time was pretty much divided into early morning with kids and sandwiches for kids, school, home, eat, siesta, teach, make dinner, kids sleep, then time for my husband and lesson plans/ correcting tests.
The best way to keep the balance going is to make sure you spend quality time with each family member. This makes sure you are still connected to them, although your time is limited. Communication is a key component to creating that balance.
What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?
I still have an expensive blazer that I’m still wearing, given to me by my mom. It’s a black open, quilted, with raised epaulets, and some floral embroidery on the chest.
Now when it comes to jewelry, I still wear my solitaire, 30 years, my mom’s watch- even longer.
Poetry for Change 