A Pleasure in Poetry

i write poems. silly, simple ones.

does that make me a poet?

come march, dubai will host the first ever Dubai International Poetry Festival with the theme, A Thousand Poets, One Language. this theme captures the essence of poetry as a bridge between cultures - transcending language, nationality, race and social background.

it was established on July 23, 2008 by his highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of dubai. dubai being ambitious as always has already planned for five successive annual festivals.

the handsome ruler of dubai in his lepak pose

WHAT
dubai aims to make this an annual event that will feature

• soirees - evening partay!
  
• forums
• workshops - write own poems?
  
• poetry readings - mostly to introduce various forms of classical and contemporary arabic poetry; the Nabati poetry, an indigenous form of verse unique to mid east countries
  
• live performances - yay!
  
• seminars - yawn!

WHEN
it will run from 4th - 10th of march - honey, we can do it as your birthday thing - mr. khairul's birthday falls on march 8th. although, it'd be something that i am most likely to enjoy more than him! definitely!

i can already imagine him mocking this idea with him spewing 'thee's and 'thou's and over dramatizing 'the stars...the mountains...the moon...' crap. i just need him to understand that poetry can just be about 2 lines that doesn't have to be sappy and that doesn't even have to rhyme. you just have to mean it. put passion in it. live it.

like *haiku. oh, the beauty of its simplicity!

*haiku is a japanese unrhymed poem with only 3 lines; containing 5, 7, 5 syllables respectively. usually about nature and the seasons

WHO
worldwide participation is expected, attracting internationally-acclaimed poets over a period of five years. in fact, *the mohammed bin rashid al maktoum foundation (MBRF) announced more than 100 poets from 45 countries are expected to participate in this first edition of the Dubai International Poetry Festival 2009. woohoo. wondering who's representing malaysia, eh?

WHERE
the main activities of the festival will be held at madinat jumeirah and house of poetry in shindagha, dubai. man, say it with me - house. of. poetry. it's like disneyland for poets! house of mouse for the mickeys of poetic nuts! i really want to check this place out and i hope it doesn't disappoint.

other venues include:

• cultural centres
• community clubs
• schools
• universities
• shopping malls like ibn battuta mall, dubai mall and dubai festival city will host short plays too! - yeah, baby that's where i'm goin!

even though poems will be recited in different languages, the public will be able to follow translations into arabic and english on big screens, so that the essence of the poems will be communicated effectively.

what is the dubai house of poetry? (from the gulf news)
overlooking the dubai creek, the dubai house of poetry will be centre for poetic activities and feature:

• a library
• an exhibition hall.
• stock audio, video and printed archives of well-known poetic works of the past
• the right ambience for intellectual debate
• a venue to host several recitation sessions
• a spot for literary performances
• a centre for nurturing literary talent

WHY
according to *MBRF, the objectives of the festival are such:

• establishing poetic expression as a channel for communication among the world's cultures
• emphasizing dubai as a cultural and intellectual hub for mutually respectful dialogues and understanding between nations
• reviving the status of poetry in the arab culture
• encouraging the translation of poetry between arabic and other languages

sheikh majid, chairman of dubai culture and arts authority (DCAA), said:

"poetry is a universal literary avenue where people speak the same language of sincerity and truth, even if through different dialects.

* * *

i would like to share with you a list of my fav poems and sonnets, for your friday reading pleasure. may you find joy in reading them, as much as i do; and finding meaning in them, as much as i have.

• robert frost's the road not taken
• edgar allan poe's the raven
• william shakespeare's sonnet 116
• usman awang's uda dan dara
  
• rudyard kipling's if
  
• rubaiyyat of omar khayyam
• wilfred owen's dulce et decorum est
• w.h. auden's funeral blues
  

so. i write silly simple poems.
i write about things that i feel, things that i see, things that's in me.
hey, i am a poet.

want to give poetry a chance?
right now.
just tell me how you feel.
what can you see or hear around you?
what does your senses tell you?
write it down in 2, no - make it 4 sentences.

you just got yourself a poem.

My Sons

comot when they eat
noisy when they speak
smelly when they poop
sweethearts when they sleep

love them to bits!

My Sons
By Ruth Joy

Sticky fingers,
dirty face
rugs and pillows
out of place.

Cars and tractors
here and there,
blocks and boats
everywhere.

Gold and silver
have I none,
but worth a million
are my sons.

p/s: don't they look alike @ 1-2 mths old?

25 Random Things About Me

in facebook there's this *note* that has been going around.

the rule is, once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. at the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. you have to tag the person who tagged you.

* i have to confess though, that i just found out what 'tagging a person' means. when you write a list, or answer a series of questions such as this, and you 'tag' someone, it just means that that person has to write the same kind of list or answer the same series of questions.

i was tagged by my good friend i knew in melbourne, azril shah so now i'm doing my very own list. i was supposed to do this through facebook, but i think it'd be great to post it in my blog instead. i hope the peeps i tagged later would be reading this!

* * *

1) i am a collector. books, tissues, theater booklet, drink stirrer, postcards, lanyard, bookmarks - it seems endless, huh?

2) i did school play almost every year of my secondary school life. written and directed by yours truly. often enough, playing the villain!

• form 1 - sindebola - a spoof on cinderella
• form 2 - ferris bueller and the black lady - a spin from beauty and the beast
• form 3 - abang 94 - first school play done in BM
• form 4 - honeymoon year so they say so there were more performances. twelfth night - simplified version of shakespeare's and acapella performance singing shades' 'malam' and ben e king's 'stand by me'
• form 5 - SPM - rest!

3) one day, i want to own and run a kids' development center for literature nuts or a drama workshop for kids.

4) i like to leave big fat raindrops falling on my windshield while waiting for the green light til its blury, and then watch the windshield wiper crystalize the glass with one swipe til the vision is clear once more.

5) i don't like coffee. anything coffee.

6) i color coordinate my clothes while hanging them in the wardrobe, as well as when hanging them to dry (that is why i don't let mr khairul help me with the laundry - he'll mess up my system!)

7) movies i can watch countless times, again and again, never get bored with

• shakespeare in love
• MiB
• the sound of music
• any disney animation
• back to the future trilogy
• sense and sensibility
• the rock

8) i am a member of just10 - a group of ten girls who had been close friends since 1992, til death do us part.

9) i put the eggs in the fridge following the same arrangement as they were in the carton that they came in...because i might unknowingly separate a friend or relative.

10) i have 2 sons, khaleef and kahfi. i have 2 nephews, haiqal and haqeem. i have 2 nieces, sufya and husna.

11) i was a tomboy in high school. crew cut, baseball cap, big t's and gedoboh pants - the works.

12) i put biscuits or crackers in my bread spread with jam or nutella. i also put potato chips in my sandwich.

13) i was so irresistable that it took him only 25 days after knowing me, to propose. i said yes. duuh.

14) books i can read more than once:

• stephen king's 'it'
• terry pratchett's 'the truth'
• christopher pike's 'the tachyon web'
• william peter blatty's 'the exorcist'
• jefrey archer and roald dahl's short stories

15) i am afraid of cockroaches. especially flying ones. no, blind ones.

16) i once joined rtm's wirawan seni remaja singing competition with fellow acapella nuts irda, putri and zainora in 1995.

17) i enjoy a company while i cook in the kitchen but i do not like to cook with them. i cook alone. you can come and chat but please, you do not need to help, especially verbally.

18) i have a crush on nazruddin habibur rahman.

19) i was the ONLY one in my family who did not own a westlife album. not a fan. ALL of my four sisters AND my mom bought their own individual album, so we had 5 westlife album lying around the house. kaya westlife!

20) on a clear night i always look out for my favorite constellation - the orion's belt which consists of 3 very visible stars in a row.

21) sometimes i do not even need to watch f.r.i.e.n.d.s, i could just have it in the background as i do my work.

22) from the moment i started noticing boys, i did not want to end up with a guy who is very tall, who smokes, who is an active sportsman and from a boarding school. ha ha! definitely no regrets but never say never! memang dah jodoh!

23) i get dizzy reading on a moving vehicle.

24) i don't eat taugeh but i would like it mingling with my char kuey teow despite abah's constant suggestion to ask one without taugeh. i would then painstakingly (but lovingly) pick one by one until all the taugeh is gone from my plate before finally eating the kuey teow, which, by then would be not too hot to be consumed.

25) i've been on the front page of a leading malay newspaper with dr. mahathir, former prime minister of malaysia.

* * *

some of you might say:

"she's nuts!"

or

"hey, me too!"

don't judge me, okay!
explore your idiosyncracies.
embrace it!
it's uniquely you!


i'm tagging these 25 lucky souls in facebook to do the same list!

1. azi
2. syida
3. syima
   
4. syimee
5. rini
6. yaya
7. auntyna
8. cik
9. put
10. irda
11. eric
12. teh
    
13. niraku
14. izwan
15. shah
    
16. arin
17. liyana
    
18. mohana
19. dora
20. jo
21. jennifer
22. haida
23. anneeza
24. syu
25. (save the best for last) mr khairul
    

go ahead.
knock yourself out!

Musings of a Vampire

yup. still a lot to unpack. a lot to kobek-kobek. and i found this.

in the mood for something scary?

i wrote this piece when i was 16. i think that was the time when i'd just seen anne rice's book-to-movie 'interview with the vampire' starring the three of the most gorgeous guys in hollywood screen. i bet johnny depp and anuar zain would be as yummy as a vampire. ok, maybe not anuar zain. that would be too creepy already.

the sexiest vampires ever - brad pitt, tom cruise and antonio banderas in 'the interview with the vampire'

musings of a bat
by syigim

in the middle of the night, soars a creature it is i,
crouching in the shadow where evil and darkness lie,
the deafening silence is the most awaited time,
for that's when i strike like a lion in its prime.

i dance on graves just to keep the night moving,
digging up bones and chew 'em when it's boring,
the night is my soul, the stillness my song,
the moon keeps me company til dawn creeps along.

when the sun's wide awake, steals the night for a day,
i snuggle under my wings, into a coffin i must lay,
so serene and beautiful i dreamt of past memories,
when i was a living, breathing being with friends and families.

i want to escape from this strangling immortality,
this endless life for which i was cursed eternally,
i need someone to replace my throne,
only then can i have mortal mind, skin, flesh and bones.

so keep your eyes open and fear the bat in flight,
for no one knows when or where i might,
in deep desperation no mercy will i show,
watch out, watch out - you might not see tomorrow...

wait, what's that behind you...?

Joey's Dramatic Reading

"love you forever, by robert munsch."

i first heard about this book watching joey 'reciting' it as a dramatic reading for ross and rachel's baby, emma on her first birthday party in my favorite sitcom, f.r.i.e.n.d.s. he did not know he had to bring presents for emma. knowing that phoebe had the 'gift of music' to give, joey decided to use his 'talent' as a present. he grabbed a book for a dramatic reading - this one.

the book is so cute in its simplicity, meaningful in its sentiments. after joey reads it, rachel is so moved by it, and so does everyone else.



i really thought the book didn't exactly exist outside of f.r.i.e.n.d.s!

then i came across this BIG book at one of the leading bookstores in one of the many malls in dubai. the size attracted me at first, then i saw the title which sounded familiar - and then i saw the name!

joey's book!

you might not understand it but it was an exciting moment for this friends' fan.


i read the book quickly. there is this one part that's creepy and funny - when the mommy climb up to the son's bedroom to cradle him when he was already a grownup, and treated him like she always had - like her baby - but then again, any mommy's boy could relate to this bit. heck, whether you're 3 or 30, you would want to be mommy's baby - forever and always.

but i didn't expect the story to turn and when the mommy was too old to sing, the son sang to the mommy instead. "..my mommy you'll be.." it had moved me to tears. and what an end! it was so simple yet so sweet! daddys take note!

i totally get how rachel must have felt!

my babies

i'll love you forever,
i'll like you for always,
as long as i'm living,
my baby you'll be.

robert munsch wrote these four lines as a song, and planned to sing it to his babies. unfortunately, both died once born and he never get to sing it. everytime he tried to sing it, he cried thinking of the babies he never had.

"It was very strange having a song in my head that I could not sing.."

so he made a story around the song - and he got 'love you forever'. he said everyone who reads it must make up their own version of the song.




how would you sing it?
want to sing it to your baby tonight?

Save My Perak Darul Ridzuan

i cried hard tonight.

i saw a very disturbing video clip.
it lasted approximately 9 minutes.


no, it is not about what happened in palestine.

that was a real war zone.

the clip i saw was about what had ensued in front of the sacred ubudiah mosque in kuala kangsar.


no, it is not about desperate palestinian men and women seeking peace and freedom from extreme oppression, violence and total disregard for humanity.

that was a real suffering.

the clip i saw was about men and women obsessed in finding a reason to be a pejuang, with total disregard for the existing peace and harmony of the country.


no, it is not about little palestinian children looking peacefully asleep but soaked in innocent blood, never to wake up again.

that was a real tragedy.

the clip i saw was about a child in white and green sampin baju sekolah agama with no business being there, being carried away from tear-eye gas.


no, it is not about people crying, running away from bombs and flying bullets, protecting their women and children.

that was a real sacrifice.

the clip i saw was about people shouting, running towards water-pump truck and tear-eye gas.


the video clip i watched tonight,

was not - no, it is not about real war.
it was about a trivial battle that could have been avoided.


tonight i cry.
to see what it has come to.
seeing how low we have gone to fight this war, when there is a situation much worse.

moga Allah lindungi Perak Darul Ridzuan.


p/s: thanks niraku for providing me the posted pict.

Stop the Perak Drama

there's a lot of hoopla going on back home. drama kings, heroes, jesters and fools all playing their part in a great big political drama. and by home i don't just mean malaysia, but my beloved hometown - perak. people who knows me well would guess which side i'm on - but let me just state for the record - that i really do not mind who reigns in perak, just as long as it stays peaceful and harmony, a quiet little town where i can come back to and feel belonged. where everybody knows your name and some things stay the same.

perak state emblem

i hate to read about silly-time-wasting demonstration. so i didn't. did anything happen?

ipoh, a favorite film and ad location for film director yasmin ahmad - has an old charm about it that just soothes me. i have simple needs; a big mall that has everything i need, my awesome school just around the bend - and the food - aw, man -

• makcik goreng pisang at kampung melayu
• cendol at ipoh jaya
• char kuey teow at ipoh parade
• roti canai medan gopeng
• laksa at niraku's house

kl is all fun and exciting, but perak is where the heart always is. i would like to dedicate a lovely song about my hometown, to all those anak perak out there. read the lines and remember what we worked for to begin with. no matter which party rocks our boat, let us pray for the best - and let God do the rest.

Perak Darul Ridzuan

Perak Darul Ridzuan
Negeri indah permai
Penduduknya hidup aman damai
Dinaungi keadilan sultan

Kuala Kangsar Bandar Diraja
Iskandariah istana ternama
Tempat bersemayam Baginda Paduka Seri
Menjadi lambang tunggak negeri

Bukit Larut
Waktu malam... berkelipan
Udaranya sejuk nyaman menyegarkan
Indahnya ciptaan Tuhan

Di tengah samudera biru
Pulau Pangkor dengan pantai yang bersih
Tempat bersukaria tumpuan para pelancong
Pemandangan indah yang terbentang

Lihat padi menguning
Menambah seri Daerah Kerian
Di Hilir Perak
Nyiur melambai-lambai
Oh sungguh subur tanah airku

Kinta daerah tengah
Hasilnya bijih timah
Batu Gajah bandar yang bertuah
Tempat keputeraan seri sultan

Hulu Perak nun di utara
Kaya dengan sumber hasil hutannya
tersergam
Empangan tinggi menjulang
Segagah wira di perbatasan

Pasir Salak...
bersejarah dan berdarah
Dato Sagor Dato Maharajalela
Gugur pertahankan bangsa

SITC maktab tertua
Gedung ilmu bakti suluh budiman
Lahirkan cendekiawan
Pejuang bangsa negara
Kekal abadi sepanjang zaman

Perak makmur bahagia
Dengan sembilan daerah yang ada
Betapa indah tanah air tercinta
Sejahteralah Perak oh negeriku
Perak… Perak… oh negeriku.

i know most of you perghok people out there were singing this song along, huh? cammon, admit it! me too!