ninotaziz's Blog, page 11

An Experiment in Haiku and Trireme Sonnet

    Bastet




scorching summer breeze
she stood gazing at the Nile
a goddess, no less


***

 Bastet, she ruled in great royal chambersA life of joy and dance permeatedThousands of years of exquisite sublime Sun-God Ra's bewitching lovely daughterAmong all, she held her cats most sacredTo run through temples of the most divine Her court of cult and loyal followersAdored her - she was both feared and revered
Her grace, aggression, seduction combined If I could live but, a joyous hourIn those ancient times with my belovedTo walk by her side, and to make her mine
 To live, and die - beheld by such powerTo be loved by so tender a lover



words by ninotaziz. all rights reserved
 ____________________________________________________________

Once again, Samuel Peralta entices us, this time to try something not quite new - yes, a sonnet, but a structured one that promises to be an exciting experiment - what he terms as a Trireme Sonnet. I was thrilled to be introduced to the work of Heather Horton of Canada - and I admit, I am always happy to be reminded of the land I spent growing into adulthood. Her artwork "Sasha, Sun"  inspired the poem above. I think I am going to trip over iambic pentameters but I will give it a try. Lovely introduction and prompt Samuel, over at dVerse.
And  a little haiku as well. Thank you.






Ancient Patterns

    Celtic Passion

Long before Romeo and Juliet
I fell in love with love
The courageous Tristan, the fiery Iseult
Passion that moved the earth



Greek Legends

The curiousity of Anisedora
Released all pain, suffering and evil
But Epithemeus, despite caution, loved her
Only hope remained for the world



Chinese Loyalty

The love of the Emperor
For the little nightingale
Can be forgotten for a while
But in the end, irreplaceable.


Words by ninotaziz. All rights reserved.
Ancient patterns belong to the world.


_____________________________________

For Poets United and Open Link Night




Scheherazade of Persia (a haiku, ghazal and free verse)

Hope shimmers skywardsStars greet summer night stories Arabian Tales


The moon and stars have come out to play, my loveAs you walk in the garden tonight, my love
Pale in comparison to your loveliness     The tall trees and river can only sigh, love                
You tell stories to the Sultan in chambersThe cliffhanger is here as dawn draws nigh, love
You live yet another day, as he wondersThe people do pray for you and your life, love
Day ends and once again the Queen disappearsHope illuminates the streets until sunrise, love
Today, in books and around the lounge firesStorytellers pay tribute to you, my love


rich walls whispertapestries hangdelicious folklore spills forthbehind screen of virtue
transcend time and place
horrific terrorshe will bring it to endwith delicious selfless lovebehind screen of truth
beauty and grace



by ninotaziz, the storyteller. all rights reserved.
_________________________________________________________
Inspired by beauty, I write a haiku, a ghazal and free verse in tribute to a most famous ancient Queen. Do you know who she is and the name of her city?
Thank you Kelvin at dVerse. You debut in style.

Who was she (a haiku, ghazal and free verse)

Hope shimmers skywardsStars greet summer night stories Arabian Tales


The moon and stars have come out to play, my loveAs you walk in the garden tonight, my love
Pale in comparison to your loveliness     The tall trees and river can only sigh, love                
You tell stories to the Sultan in chambersThe cliffhanger is here as dawn draws nigh, love
You live yet another day, as he wondersThe people do pray for you and your life, love
Day ends and once again the Queen disappearsHope illuminates the streets until sunrise, love
Today, in books and around the lounge firesStorytellers pay tribute to you, my love


rich walls whisperstapestries hangdelicious folklore spills forthbehind screen of virtue
transcend time and place
horrific terrorshe will bring it to endwith delicious selfless lovebehind screen of truth
beauty and grace



by ninotaziz, the storyteller. all rights reserved.
_________________________________________________________
Inspired by beauty, I write a haiku, a ghazal and free verse in tribute to a most famous ancient Queen. Do you know who she is and the name of her city?
Thank you Kelvin at dVerse. You debut in style.

Who was she, A Ghazal

The moon and stars have come out to play, my love
As you walk in the garden tonight, my love

Pale in comparison to your loveliness
The tall trees and river can only sigh, love                

You tell stories to the Sultan in chambers
The cliffhanger is here as dawn draws nigh, love

You live yet another day, as he wonders
The people do pray for you and your life, love

Day ends and once again the Queen disappears
Hope illuminates the streets until sunrise, love

Today, in books and around the lounge fires
Storytellers  pay tribute to you, my love


by ninotaziz, the storyteller. all rights reserved.

_________________________________________________________

For fun, I write a ghazal in tribute to a most famous ancient Queen. Do you know who she is and the city she lived in which still exist today?

When heroes fall

   silence is deafeningwhen heroes fall from gracedeep freeze winter takes place


le silence est terrifiant
où les héros tomber de la grâce
l'hiver arrête le coeur

 _______________________________  on reflection, my heart is uncertain what to feel when seemingly immortal men prove they are very human after all.   words by ninotaziz. all rights reserved.

Leonard Cohen

This is my work. Writing is my work...
                       ...and in your work you locate your self respect
                                                                          Leonard Cohen


You opened your eyes to the worldAnd translated that to soulful wordsthat touched the hearts
Like a Bird of Wire


"Like a bird on the wire, 
Like a drunk in a midnight choir 
I have tried in my way to be free."

Thank you Leonard Cohen. For words.

____________________________

For dVerse. Thank you Mary.

I think of the difficult times and sometimes, disappointment that Leonard Cohen went through earlier in life. From this he drew words from a place he said he knew not. Isn't this a wonderful inspiration to all writers as we write with passion and love for the written word, not knowing where they came from. Finding out in the end, it was well worth the pain, the time, the paper they were written on.

The Ghazal of the Storyteller

A couple of weeks ago, dVerse introduced the Ghazal. And I was enthralled. But I could not come up with a single nugget of inspiration. Well, tonight, my muse came a-waltzing, and here is my offering for anyone who cares to drop by. Thank you, Samuel.

Out of darkness, comes forth the storyteller 

And they cry out loud - Oh please, storyteller

Spin us a legend,  take us to the heavens

We crave your words like a disease, storyteller

I unleash the tale of the Persian Slave

And give them their fill of the whiz storyteller

Of tortured forbidden love with Noureddin

They cry, Oh what sublime bliss, storyteller

The tales of the Arabian Nights never end

Only the Caliph, can give his leave, storyteller

I smile and say, I will stay all night my friend

I, ninotaziz,  Caliph's storyteller.

Words by ninotazizCopyright 2013 © ninotaziz.  All rights reserved.

A simpler time

Of late I reminisce
And dream of childhood days
I think of things I missAnd butterflies that fly my way

Simply, a day in our livesspent at home,  in the gardenIce cream was pure delightThe news was of champions

Of late I reminisce
And dream of childhood days
I think of how world peaceIs now precarious far away

Simply, a day in our livesSublime, safe and serene

Of late I reminisce
And dream of childhood days.


Words by ninotazizCopyright 2013 © ninotaziz.All rights reserved.
_____________________________________________________Gay, who is absolutely busy moving, invited us to explore the tools of our trade as poets over at dVerse. This reminded me of the times I was a young girl, writing poetry just for the fun of it. Often, I turned to rhymes, rime, assonance and alliteration without realising these were forms that produced musical tones to a piece of writing.

And yes, life was simpler then. The news was not so much in the face, and Presidents come and go when their term was done. The TV was the dominating electronic device. And the office was in the office. But then, we did not have access to the world at our kitchen table. Oh yes, we did. There was the radio.

Thirty years ago, I had no idea what haiku was, and that there was a French poetry form fashioned after our Malay pantun called pantoun. I never knew that Ghazal, which is a genre of traditional songs to me, was also poetry.

Thank you dVerse, thank you Gay.

Note : Most memorable piece of news  then - Nadia Comaneci winning gold at the Olympics and seven  perfect 10s in Montreal. And Torvill and Dean's perfect routine - Bolero in Sarajevo. 

Sweet sorrows

we danced aroundthe teacup rimfor the last time
and 
held onto our kissuntil stars appeared on the edge
of time
covered my lipsover your goodbyeso bittersweet
I so
crave sweet sorrowslike this shall lasta lifetime

***


J'ai couvert
mes lèvres sur votre
au revoir très tendre

baiser doux, plus triste, tres triste


________________________
For dVerse : Letting Goin response to Claudia's exploration of the Art of letting go

and the Magpietales
The moment of unforgettable  love is here!