Freedom ...

The moment you can visualize being free from the things that hold you back ...You have indeed begun to set yourself free ...

Sculpture by: Zenos Frudakis "Freedom"

Rainer Maria Rilke ...

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart ... And try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language ... Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them ... And the point is to live everything ... Live the questions now ... Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer ...

William Shakespeare ...

Poor and content is rich, and rich enough

Love This Poem ...

Qur'aan 64:3

He created the heavens and earth with Truth

Formed you and made your forms beautiful

And to Him is the homecoming

Anna Kamienska ...

I pray in words ...
I pray in poems ...

I want to learn to pray through breathing ...
Through dreams and sleeplessness ...

Through love and renunciation ...

Experience love before you contemplate the metaphors

Søren Kierkegaard ...

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use ...

Zak Attack !!!

The Future Of Mixed Martial Arts ...

Langston Hughes ...

Poetry can make people think ...

Some poems can make people think about changing all mankind

Even the whole world ...

Poems, like prayers, posses power ...

Gaza ...

Cool Doc ... Check it ...

Looooove this ...

LOL ... Love Bas Rutten ... Enchiladaaaa's !!!

Love Bas ...

I love Adele ... And I'm gonna find the guy that broke her heart, and beat the holy mess outta him ...

A rare look into Bruce Lee's house ...

Dance + Trance ...

You know, that's how I talk to myself when I'm alone ...

I tell myself all kinds of stories ...

(André Breton)

A very short story ... In shadows ...

That dude Rumi ...

There is no such thing as a bad experience ...
Bad experiences are simply the creations of your resistance to what is ...

Getcho read on !!!

Rumi ...

Love is from the infinite ...

And will remain until eternity ...

Ibn Ata’illah ...

My God,

You know that, even though obedience has not remained a resolute action on my part, it has remained as a love and a firm aspiration ...

Anna Kamienska ...

I pray in words ... I pray in poems ... I want to learn to pray through breathing ... Through dreams and sleeplessness ... Through love and renunciation ...

George Leonard ...

The essence of boredom is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty ... Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition ...The discovery of endless richness in subtle variations on familiar themes ...

Amazing Piece ... (The Suicide Letter MJ Should've Written) ...

Tis the season to be jolly ... Fa lala illaaa ha illallaah ...

Eid Mubarak !!!

Muslim ...

If a person knew to what extent he was surrounded by God's Mercy ...
He would never raise his head from prostration ...

Wicked Poem ...

Beauty Manifest ...

Capoeira ...

Ornette Coleman ... Paris, October 9, 1969 ...

No, you can’t do nothin’ by yourself ...

We live in a world where someone can ask who the richest man in the world is and be given a name. But you can’t name the poorest man in the world. They come in the millions. If you can do something by yourself, you are automatically above the others. What you must try to do is bring the ones who are down up to the level of what you believe it could be for everybody. Not that you’re there yourself, but you just know what the level could be. If more people supported that level, you would have others to work with. Unfortunately, people think, What’s in it for me? They can all calculate that very quickly.

What’s very strange about music is that there isn’t any measuring point. You can’t know how good someone is unless you have something to check what you have already accepted. Like myself—I have never in my life seen anyone explain how and what I’m doing in music. But everybody knows that it’s not important enough to back. It’s strange; they don’t do that with material values. If something is rare, then it’s more important than anything common; but that isn’t the way it goes in human affairs. That’s funny, huh?

Its backward.

Yeah, that’s what it is. I think if people know you’re doing something well and they know that you’re not trying to destroy them, they will support you. I grew up in a white society with white rules and white philosophy, but I grew up with a black conscience. My consciousness of myself as a black man makes me realize that unless I can be integrated into white society and its values, I can’t achieve the wealth they have created. They have created a society where any unknown white person can put something on the market and become successful. I don’t see why a black person can’t do that. They have to control what you do first, then give it to you like welfare.

Maybe it’s in the nature of a white person to be against anybody who is not white. But in that case they shouldn’t have schools and rules. They should say no black person is allowed to read and write. They should let you know what your limitations are. They shouldn’t say you can succeed if you can learn, because you can’t.

I haven’t had a booking agent or a manager in ten years. Every gig I’ve had I got myself. I haven’t made any money, but I haven’t been without too many meals. People see me with new clothes on and think I have lots of money and that I’m successful. I was born in the black community, where the best thing to do is be clean and not let anybody know what your problems are. I have walked the streets wearing silk suits when I was hungry. I know that if you’re clean, at least the dignity of being human is still there. I would rather think human first than think of being defeated because I’m black. I met a white guy the other day who accused me of being an agent for some secret black society. I said: “Man, you got to be crazy.” They can’t put their finger on me, because I don’t belong to any organization. People don’t realize you needn’t belong to an organization for the betterment of this or that just to do something you believe in. You can do it without joining anything.

From Notes and Tones: Musician to Musician Interviews by Arthur Taylor

Mahmoud Darwish ... A People With No Poetry Is A Defeated People

Amazing Story ...

One of my favourite Jiu Jitsu players ...

Beautiful Ending ...

An Article Review For My Book ... 08/20/2011

Interview and Article by: Rabia Khokhar: www.keepingithalal.com

R: I feel like you use such simple words to say such grand things. In a sentence or a few words how would you describe your own writing style ?

J: My friend once told me that when people are in need of soul food, they don't need something complicated ... Just something simple, that goes straight and direct to the heart ... I would say my writing style is refreshing and original with a range that's horizan wide ...

R: How long have you been writing for ?

J: I've been writing for 5 years ...

R: What do you like best about writing ?

J: I write because of my emotional need to ... Writing is a very painful process sometimes ... The root of why I started writing is very organic ... There was never an intention ... I never set out to be good at it ... I kind of did it cause I thought of it as survival at the time ... Poetry, unlike many other art forms, it's primary base is the fact that you're vulnerable ... I mean, you have to be in a vulnerable place in order to be effective ... It embraces all the ideas about vulnerability ...

R: What specifically inspired you to put this book together ?

J: My need to want to give myself ... My need to connect to people ... To try and get closer to humanity ... The humanity that connects us all together ... I believe books are a passionate affair ... And a collection of them is an affair of passion ...

R: After reading your poems I believe that your poetry is quite global, by this I mean that it highlights many of the issues faced in the world yet at times these are subtle messages that the reader him/herself have to decipher them. Through your writing what message are you trying to convey ?

J: I want people to be unafraid to examine their convictions ... To always recreate themselves ... To get out of the exile ... To love yourself enough to lift each other up ... To trust the divinity of life ...

R: From this book which are your 2 favourite poems ? Why ?

J: The two that stand out are "Handala" and "Why" ...

- "HANDALA", because I feel it speaks to so many who are voiceless ... And because I was able to use a piece of my late friend Ahmed Hussain's poem as the opening verse ...

- "WHY", because it was one of the most humbling, intense and emotional experiences I've ever had ...

Those are the ones that stand out to me ... But my favourites, are any of the poems that I've written for my friend Maryam ... She's the reason this book came about ... She introduced me to poetry and taught me how to write it ... There's a part of her in every poem I write ... She is like the sunrise, and the poems are like the sunset ... Each beautiful in their own way ...

R: How long did it take you to put this book together ?

J: The poems were written over a period of 4 years ... And compiling it into book form took about 6 months ...

R: Are you going to write another book ?

J: God willing, yes ... I'm almost finished writing my second anthology of poetry, and I intend on writing several more books of, not only poetry, but novels and short stories as well ...

R: If people want to learn more about your work where can they find you ?

J: On my website at: www.jafaralam.com , on my Facebook page at Jafar Alam Poetry ...

R: I love all of your poems, but after some consideration I think my 4 favourite are:
- The Slave and the Master
- Looking for God Everywhere
- Handala
- Why
Can you perhaps share why you wrote each piece ? And what you wish to convey through them ?

J: I kind of looked at these scenerio's and asked myself "Well, what does that mean to me ? " ... And I felt that these poems were important for people ... All four of the pieces really speak about the human condition and this need that we have to be received ... So I wanted to kind of stimulate thought and try to uplift people spiritually and conciously with that ... But essentially, like any book, the reader is the one that will give it, its meaning ...

R: After reading your book I feel like this book is so much about you, it’s like you have allowed people to get a glimpse of your experiences. Is this the case ? And as a poet is this always something difficult to do ? Sharing so much of yourself with the world ?

J: Most definately ... I did give people a glimpse into my world ... I think the book was well received because of the fact that it was raw and honest ... I kind of look at it as a diary written in the form of poetry ... I don't mind sharing myself with the world ... I think the connection between the poet and the audience is a communion ... And I think the audience or the reader, is very much an important part of the poem ...

I used to feel that my purpose in this world was to experience all this pain, so that I could share it with others through my poetry and hopefully give them something where they wouldn't have to suffer in the way that I did ...



Link To The Written Article:

http://www.keepingithalal.com/50/category/writer%20rabiaf3dba9c00b/1.html

Bruce Lee ...

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life ... There are no limits ... There are only plateaus ... And you must not stay there ... You must go beyond them ...

Inside This New Love ... By Jafar Alam

Your heartache ends ...

He remains ...

Inside this new love, die (c)

Beautiful ...

Rumi ...

There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness ...

We are lutes, no more, no less ...

If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music ...
If the brain and belly are burning clean with fasting ...

Every moment a new song comes out of the fire ...

Arundhati Roy ...

The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you are alive, and die only when you are dead ... To love, to be loved ... To never forget your own insignificance ... To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of the life around you ... To seek joy in the saddest places ... To pursue beauty to its lair ... To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple ... To respect strength, never power ... Above all to watch ... To try and understand ... To never look away ... And never, never to forget ...

LOVE ...

And Ya Don't Stop ...

Shake the Dust - Uganda Sneak Preview from Loose Luggage on Vimeo.

Success ... Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much ...

To win the respect of intelligent people ...

And the affection of children ...

To earn the appreciation of honest critics ...

And to endure the betrayal of false friends ...

To appreciate beauty ...

To find the best in others ...

To leave the world a bit better ...

Whether by a healthy child ...

A garden patch ...

Or a redeemed social condition ...

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived

THIS IS TO HAVE SUCCEEDED ...

Return To Innocence (Poem) ... By Jafar Alam

I offer you light

In this land
Love carries weight

And may you taste the sweetness of all your dreams

You are the world
Listening to itself awake

Live recklessly in love
With the unknown of your life

Relax, Smile, Breath, Expand, Unwind, Love, Live and Prosper

The past and the future are only in our imagination
The present moment is the only one that never ends

And I'm tryina speak the unspoken word

Show me the revolution in your love
The riot in your smile

Show me a heart

Live and dwell in the laughter of your living

Queens are for Kings

Honesty
Is still in style

Show love
Grow love

What is the man
Without the woman ???

We are the children of children
So God bless the child that has its own


She walked by you

Your eyes whistled open

She was
The BOMB!!!

She forgot her heat
And you fell in love

You smile
Blooming

You think of her
Like a waking dream

She holds your hand
And your spine melts
In the sand dunes of her palm

And experience forms the learning

There is learning and unlearning to do

This is a world, where beauty absurdly dies

Love
Love
Love, lest you become hopeless

Pray, lest you become restless

Talk
Without words

Gaze into each others eyes
That is the original art of storytelling

Be a wind on the ocean

Be the horizons mouth
Freeing a sunset into her eyes

A smile
Sounds different

Fill an empty house with wishes

Listen to the silence
It has more to say than you think

Search for God
And there you will find Him

Write poems to her rhythm

Beauty is a transforming element
Of the mind

So look at her again
And tell her

That the moon
On its fullest night
Aint got nothing on her glow



ON A SIDE NOTE: Dear random person, life is waiting for you to step into your greatness



This is the beginning of forever

The first time you knew she loved you

Life lives
And death dies

Give thanks
For every moment
Every second
Every person
Every breath
Every fault
Every chance
Every laugh
Every sigh
And
Every mercy


You can never find light
While analyzing darkness

You'll never find magnificence
By analyzing your faults

She
Is the fragrance of laughter and new love

All the joy in our earthly lives
Is but a glimpse to what awaits

You
Are relentless magic my friend

Remember when you first met her
She was giving birth
To a beautiful smile

I think happiness looks good on you

She thinks so too

As she
Watches you catch her heart

Making you feel alive
Is the best mistake
She ever made

She will blow wishes with your fallen eye lashes

She will take your breath away, just by breathing

She will silence you, just by being

And remind you that it takes courage
To interrogate yourself

Forgive
Your yester-years

The beginning of your tomorrow
Is today

The heart has many languages
Learn

Every generation
Is the lost generation

Until we find ourselves
We are always searching

With your spirits strong and brave
Why don't you repaint the skies

And cherish each other
Like an un-ending gift from God

You have forever
To re-discover each other

Search for truth
Between breaths

Make her feel as special
As she makes you feel

And try to make smiles
Seek her for their permanent home

Tell her she's beautiful because she's from God

Tell her that she proves
Women can clap thunder in glass jars
And name it holy

Tell her that you love to love to love

Tell her that you're on cloud 8
Looking for an upgrade

Tell her that you're a slave to her love
But you're still broke as a joke
Cause minimum wage replaced slavery


At every step
A new love story is born

In this moment
Exists the story of your 2 hearts

In a world where sorrows wear faces of happiness

Promise her
That until "Never" comes
You're loving her forever

Embrace humility
Admit to when you're wrong
And don't let pride keep the words
"I'm sorry"
From your lips

Look at her
And dream with your eyes open

Look at her
And pray the horizon glows on the crevice of your first childs smile

Knowing that one of the best things a man can do
For his children
Is love their mother

Look into her eyes
See your grandchildren sitting around her skirt
Asking grandma to tell them a story

Look at her and tell her
That if you knew how to translate your heart beating in her presence
You'd speak a language that the two of you would never return from


Sometimes you are the splendor of another awakening in yourself
And other times
You are the wind sleeping on the shore of your mothers heart


Each time free



Come back
To the root of the root
Of yourself

Come back to that time
That day
That hour
That minute
That second
That moment

Before we learned to hurt
And cheat
And steal
And lie

Come back

And return

To innocence ©

Yeeeeeup ...

Rest In Peace ...

Abstract Love ...

Rumi ...

Why are you so afraid of silence ???
Silence is the root of everything ...
If you spiral into its void ...
A hundred voices will thunder messages you long to hear ...

Song of Solomon (Chapter 13) ... Toni Morrison ...

You think because he doesn’t love you that you are worthless ...
You think that because he doesn’t want you anymore that he is right ...

That his judgement and opinion of you are correct ...
If he throws you out, then you are garbage ...
You think he belongs to you because you want to belong to him ...

Don’t ...

It’s a bad word, "belong" ...

Especially when you put it with somebody you love ...
Love shouldn’t be like that ...

Did you ever see the way the clouds love a mountain ???
They circle all around it ...
Sometimes you can’t even see the mountain for the clouds ...

But you know what ???
You go up top and what do you see ???

His head ...
The clouds never cover the head ...

His head pokes through, because the clouds let him ...
They don’t wrap him up ...
They let him keep his head up high, free, with nothing to hide him or bind him ...

You can’t own a human being ...

You can’t lose what you don’t own ...

Suppose you did own him ...
Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you?

You really want somebody like that ???

Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door ???

You don’t, do you ???
And neither does he ...

You’re turning over your whole life to him ...

Your whole life, girl ...

And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him ???

He can’t value you more than you value yourself ...

Malcolm X ...

And for the first time in my 39 years on this earth

I stood before the Creator of all

And felt like a complete human being

Bob Marley (Feb 6, 1945 - May 11, 1981)

Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life ...

RUMI ...

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust

ibn Hazm on beauty ...

‎Gracefulness consists of delicate features
Supple movements
Graceful gestures
A soul in harmony with the form which fate has given it
Even where this is no visible beauty

Saul Williams ...

The triumph of love is in the victory ...

The triumph of fear is in defeat ...

The triumph of will is over mystery ...

The triumph of heart is in the beat ...

Rumi ...

I want a heart which is split
Part by part
By the pain of separation from God
So that I might explain my longings and desires to it ...

Love this poem ...

Anais Nin ...

I love your silences, they are like mine

You are the only being before whom

I am not distressed by my own silences

MJ ...

In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope ...

In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort ...

In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream ...

And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe ...

(Michael Jackson, address at Oxford University 2001)

Without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently - (Maya Angelou)

Beautiful Video ...

Tryo ...

You cannot even begin to imagine the great power that you are ...

History is YOU ...

It is YOU that creates history ...

Tu n'imagines pas la puissance que tu es ...

L'histoire c'est toi ...

L'histoire c'est toi qui la fait ...

Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away ...

And all the things I want to say can find no voice ...

Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak my heart ...

(Robert Sexton)

WIND ...

Ghassan Kanafani ...

I write well because I believe in a cause, in principles ... The day I leave these principles, my stories will become empty ... If I were to leave behind my principles, you yourself would not respect me ...

Michael Eric Dyson is a G !!! ...

My Strength Lies ... By Wangechi Mutu ...

Bruce Lee ...

Bruce Lee ...

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God ...

No moment is ever eternity...

But it has its right to weep ...

Mussy Love ...

Interesting Read ...

Interesting interview with the daughter of Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1021293/How-mothers-fanatical-feminist-views-tore-apart-daughter-The-Color-Purple-author.html

Beautiful ...

APRICOT — A Short Film by Ben Briand from Moonwalk Films on Vimeo.

Thas Wussup ...

Suheir Hammad with a copy of my book

Almond Eyes Hears The Dove's Cries ...