Tag Archive | Poetry

Trust

Jan26

Revealing what’s personal
Takes guts
You have to be secure in yourself
Not afraid of being judged

Opening up
What friendships are based on
How we develop trust

Revealing what’s personal
Was so hard for me
For so long

But over the years
One step at a time
I’ve arrived at a place
Where I can share personal things
With those I choose to trust
One still takes a risk
But without deep friendships
Our lives would be so dull

Loneliness, lack of support
Not having those we can lean on
The disadvantages of not
Taking this risk

I’m glad my journey has brought me
To a place
Where I can confide in my friends
January 23rd, 2017

The flame within

Dec12

What is it that ignites your passion?
What is it that makes your heart sing?
What is it that brightens your day?
What is it that awakens your senses?

We start searching for our passion
When we are young
Sometimes we recognize it right away
Sometimes we find it but we forget
Sometimes we don’t pay it enough attention

But this discovery is important
Without discovering one’s passion
There is no joy
No motivation
No ziel and enthusiasm
No direction

Without discovering one’s passion
We’ll live ordinary lives
We’ll mark time
We’ll go through the motions of life

But as soon as we discover
What ignites that fire within us
The world begins to sing
The colors seem brighter and
One’s energy expands

It’s then that we can create beauty
Promote harmony
Make new discoveries
Develop our gifts
And serve our fellow man

That little flame is so powerful
It can start wild fires

December 11th, 2016

Good writing

Dec2

Good writing takes you to another world
You no longer hear
What’s going on around you
Or who comes and goes

Good writing can hold your heart
In its hands
Your emotions are held hostage
For a while

Good writing is hard to put down
Just one more line
Just one more line
Your heart cries

Good writing leaves its mark on you
Your world is not the same anymore

Good writing comes from
A place of vulnerability
The writer bears her/his soul

Good writing captivates you
And doesn’t let you go
Perhaps it highjacks your soul

Good writing
I’m in its snare
And will be for evermore

December 1st, 2016

Naked

Nov28

img_0343It’s winter
The trees have lost their leaves
Their branches stand naked
Nothing protects them from the glances
That are cast upon them

The nests built in the shadow of their leaves
In spring
Stand exposed

There is something sad about
The absence of the lush leaves
That decorate their branches

In the summer time
But there is beauty
In their new found transparency

Their branches are extended
With self confidence
Nothing weighs them down
At this point
They feel lighter
Even though they are exposed
No secrets
No hidden agenda

They are vulnerable though
Ice will cover their branches during
Freezing rain
Weigh them down and break them
They will feel the sharp jabs
Of hailstones more acutely
But there is always a price to pay
When baring one’s soul

November 25th, 2016

photo credit:  Masoud Atrvash

Stones

Nov28

 

img_0341

We live more isolated
More orderly lives
Various things separating us
From one another

Bigger homes
Longer distances to work
Less time for family and friends
Valuing independence
Fear of rejection
Old wounds of the past

The distances created between us
Make our communities feel colder
More organized perhaps
Less chaotic
But Loneliness is rampant

Instead of talking to friends
We call hot-lines designed
To help us cope

When we need help
We are weary of asking our
Neighbour for a hand

When we stand in line
We look down at our phones
Instead of at each other

Separation is cold, lonely and lifeless

Being more connected may be
More chaotic
Louder
Less comfortable at times

But it’s colourful
More lively
More cozy
More kind

And a helping hand is always nearby
November 28th, 2016

 

Collage of me 2

Nov21

We search for our identities
Especially when we are transplants in society
We try to find out how we fit into the world
To what cultural group we belong
What values we espouse
And how other people see us

What if such a rigid identity is not to be found
We are all born with intrinsic personalities and abilities
After that, our experiences, our education
And our efforts make us who we are

Our ‘self’ is fluid
It changes as we learn and grow
Our experiences shape us
And this will continue all our lives

I find this liberating
Because now I don’t have to find out
Where I fit in, to which group I belong
Who accepts me and who does not

I am unique
As everyone else is
I am who I am because of the places
I have lived
The languages I’ve learned
The books I’ve read
The people I’ve met and befriended
Where I was born factors into this too
It’s one of the many things that makes me me!

I am Eastern
I am Western
I am Persian
I am Canadian
I value art and poetry
I value friends and family
I value honesty, compassion and equality

I’m an adventurer
I am a rebel of sorts
I am curious
I want to learn
I live and write in English
More than in my mother tongue
But there is no discrepancy in all this
They all make up the collage of me

November 11th, 2016

A new low…

Oct11

When truth does not matter anymore
And people say whatever they want
When you need to fact-check someone’s assertions
Because we can’t trust them

When dishonesty is rewarded by material gains
When we can’t count on anyone’s words
And they keep denying what can’t be denied

Our society has reached a new low

When we expect politicians to lie
At least sometimes
When accusations fly back and forth
With no way to prove who’s telling the truth

When women are objectified
And those remarks are asked to be excused
As locker-room talk
What kind of example are we setting for the young?

When civility is lost
And words are spoken that make one cringe
When insults take the place of discussion and talk
We know we have reached a new low

Don’t get me wrong
I think there is hope
But, boy does the night seem dark
Before the appearance of the dawn

 

October 11th, 2016

Pinch me

Oct4

There are times in my life
When the ocean is calm
The storm has come and gone
And I’ve survived

When the weather is mild
And the sun shines
When all is well with the world
And there are no big worries on my mind

At these times I feel as thankful
As can be
I feel blessed
And sometimes I almost feel guilty
For the way I feel

I know another storm will come
I know the clouds will appear again
And the rain drops will pelt my head
I know the light at the end of the tunnel
Will grow dim
I know all this

But for now
I’ll enjoy the calm and the sunshine and
Do my best to help others who may feel down
I’ll be a good friend, mother and wife

That’s what I can do to
Show my thankfulness
As I sail on the ocean of life

 

October 2nd, 2016

 

 

Instant communication

Sep24

These are the marvels of technology
In this age of instant communication
I sit in a coffee shop in Montreal
Write down some thoughts
And put them on my blog

A few minutes later
I notice they have been read
By someone in India or Australia!

We take these things for granted now
But the only way to get one’s writings to Australia
not so long ago was telegram, mail or Fax!
Remember Fax?
And even then there would be one person
On the receiving end
Not a world audience

No publisher is required to share ideas now
We all can share our views and thoughts

I’ll try not to take this blessing for granted
The technology we have access to now
Boggles the mind…
September 19, 2016

A little crazy

Sep22

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It’s OK to be a little crazy, I think
People with crazy ideas do more interesting things

It’s OK to be a little crazy
Being normal is generally not fun!

It’s OK to be a little crazy
Then we don’t take ourselves too seriously

It’s OK to be a little crazy
It’s hard to be comfortable around people
Who feel they are perfect
Or at least want to appear so

It’s OK to be a little crazy
Unconventional, silly, outrageous
And out of the box

And anyway, I don’t have a choice
So, it’s definitely OK to be a little crazy sometimes!
September 21st, 2016