She Had Never Seen The Ocean ... By Jafar Alam

This girl once told me
She had never seen the ocean

Has never smelled the salt
That wakes her inside

Never heard the sound of waves echoing
From the inside of her body


She had never seen the ocean ...


I thought to myself ...

Where does she let her memories sleep ?

If she drowns
Who would come and find her ? ©

Call her moonchild, dancing in the shallows of a river ...

Waiting for a smile from a sun child ...

(King Crimson)

Saul Williams ...

If a killer is capable of "planning ahead" ...
Imagine the plans of the lover ...

Lorraine Hansberry ...

There is always something left to love ...
And if you ain't learned that ...

You ain't learned nothing ...

Hafiz ...

I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness ...
The astonishing light of your own being ...

Audre Lorde ...

Looking inward and outward at once ...
Before and after ...
Seeking a now that can breed futures ...
Like bread in our children's mouths ...
So their dreams will not reflect the death of ours ...

one of my favourite drawings ...

My book was presented to Hamza Yusuf at the 2010 RIS Knowledge Retreat ...

Wish I could've been there ...

Look at the sky: That is for you ...

Look at each person's face as you pass on the street: Those faces are for you ...

And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: All these things are for you ...

They are as much for you as they are for other people ...

Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing





- (Miranda July)

What assumptions do you make about people based solely on gender ???

LOL ...

Ali's Life Recipe ...

My nerdy-mysticism interest ...

The Lost Joy ... By Olive Schreiner

All day, where the sunlight played on the sea shore, life sat ...

All day, the soft wind played with her hair, and the young, young face looked out across the water ...

She was waiting ...

She was waiting, but she could not tell for what ...

Love This ...

Interesting Australian Ad ...

A Litany For Survival ... By Audre Lorde (The Black Unicorn)

For those of us who live at the shoreline
Standing upon the constant edges of decision

Crucial and alone

For those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice

Who love in doorways coming and going
In the hours between dawns

Looking inward and outward
At once before and after
Seeking a now that can breed
Futures

Like bread in our children's mouths
So their dreams will not reflect
The death of ours

For those of us
Who were imprinted with fear

Like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
Learning to be afraid with our mother's milk

For by this weapon
This illusion of some safety to be found
The heavy-footed hoped to silence us

For all of us
This instant and this triumph

We were never meant to survive

And when the sun rises we are afraid
It might not remain

When the sun sets we are afraid
It might not rise in the morning

When our stomachs are full we are afraid
Of indigestion

When our stomachs are empty we are afraid
We may never eat again

When we are loved we are afraid
Love will vanish

When we are alone we are afraid
Love will never return

And when we speak we are afraid
Our words will not be heard
Nor welcomed

But when we are silent
We are still afraid

So it is better to speak
Remembering
We were never meant to survive

Come With Me ... By Nneka

Full Video ...

Dope MC's ...

Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing ... There is a time for silence ... A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny ... And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over ...


- (Octavia Butler)

Everybody's born with some different thing at the core of their existence ... And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside ... I have one too, of course ... Like everybody else ... But sometimes it gets out of hand ... It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up ... What I'd really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person ...


- (Haruki Murakami)

It is one of the blessings of this world that few people see visions and dream dreams ...

- (Zora Neale Hurston)

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

Taken ... By Jafar Alam

Sometimes we give ourselves ...

Only to be taken (c)

Beautiful Poem ...

Ya Basta ... By Jafar Alam

Ya bani Adam (O Children of Adam)
Ya bani Adam (O Children of Adam)

Ya basta ...
Ya basta ...

O Children of Eve
O Children of Eve

Basta ya ...
Basta ya ...

Enough is enough (c)

Adrians Kiss ... By Jafar Alam

Adrian was only 6 years old
When his mothers heart stopped beating

He cried
Shook her
And screamed her name

His mouth was full of
Heartbreaking words

When nothing was able
To revive his mom

He kissed her forehead

Later, when the nurse cleaned her body

Her forehead had a small
Wet circle

She washed her face
Carefully around

Adrians kiss (c)

They Have Never Met ... By Jafar Alam

I know of a boy who has no bride
I know of a girl who has no groom

They open their eyes to the same sun
And shut their eyes to the same moon

They live under the same sky
Where lonely days, pass them by

His mind wakes and sleeps
Her heart aches and weeps

They have never met

Each other (c)

How Strange ... By Jafar Alam

How strange are those
Who fear death

And yet they still

Long for sleep (c)

How Is It ... By Jafar Alam

You are a mountain of sorrows
But my heart's as calm as a river

If I'm different from you

How is it that you move me so deeply ? (c)

True Story ...

An 8 year old came into my store today and said somethin like:

"No one can touch the sky ... You can touch air, but not the sky" ...

I was like "WORD" ...

People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake ...
One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated ...


- (Lucille Clifton)

sick-a-tating ...

He folded his fear into a perfect rose ...
He held it out in the palm of his hand ...
She took it from him and put it in her hair ...

(Arundhati Roy)

Keep It Real ...

Feelin' this jam ...

COEXIST ...

‎O God,
Whenever I listen to the voice of anything You have made ...
The rustling of the trees ...
The trickling of water ...
The cries of birds ...
The flickering of shadow ...
The roar of the wind ...
The song of the thunder ...

I hear it saying:
God is One! Nothing can be compared with God!




~ Rabi'a

Her Tears ... by Jafar Alam

Her tear filled eyes, were locked on his face
At that moment, hatred boiled within her

As she said to herself:

Why didn't I strangle you,
While you were gently hurting me ?




- (Almond Eyes Hears The Dove's Cries, pg. 135)

Caged Dove ... by Jafar Alam

Hey you,

Is your job only prayer and praise,
Or is there something that is washed up between them ...
A dove, that at dawns rising,
Is dead against the bars of its cage?




- (Almond Eyes Hears The Dove's Cries, pg. 142)

In The Arms Of Midnight ... By Jafar Alam

Chocolate girl

Your hair looks
Un-beweaveable

Don't give up on tomorrow
It's already praisin'
Today

You aint a regular
Earth dweller

Sweet heart
There's only one caste system ...
That's the human race

And Karma

She's a trip

She's got their names
In her book

You deserve a love
That makes you a priority
Not an option hun

Don't run away from your problems
Lest you start avoiding mirrors

Chocolate girl

You're the realist fairytale

Don't try explaining yourself
To them

How you explain sunshine
To a blind man?

You are the joy of the world

Yeeeeup!

So act like it

Gwan!
Gwan!

Don't be some fool
Baby mama

Boilin' milk over a stove
With lost dreams

These boys
These days

They be fallin' in love
Without love

Don't be so consumed
With the world around you
That you neglect the world
Within you

Start your journey

If they ask for you

Tell em

They can find you
Waiting in the dimple of a moon
In the arms of midnight

Dancing
To the whistle

Of the wind (c)

(Almond Eyes Hears The Dove's Cries, pg. 17)

People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouth


-Raoul Vaneigem

FOR ALL WOMEN ...

Chills shook thru me ... I recognize the moment where her words truly transcended a moment ...

Love this song ...

DOPE ...

Yes weee caaaaan !!!

Check it ...

MOMENTS ...

Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.

On Point ...

No Justice No Peace ...

Mahmoud Darwish ...

I thought poetry could change everything, could change history and could humanize, and I think that the illusion is very necessary to push poets to be involved and to believe, but now I think that poetry changes only the poet

I can promise u that women working together ...
linked, informd and educated ...
can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet ...



-Isabel Allende

DOPE ...

I'm Running For School Board Trustee ...

MILTON CANADIAN CHAMPION - Milton’s latest school board trustee candidate says his experience working as a volunteer in elementary schools has given him a good understanding of where improvements can be made.

Jafar Alam has entered the race to represent Wards 1,6,7 and 8 as a Milton Halton District School Board trustee.

The self-described “busy body” runs a health food store and a martial arts school in Richmond Hill. He has taught mixed martial arts to children and adults for more than a decade. He also published his first collection of poetry in March of this year.
In 2007, Alam began volunteering at Scarborough-area schools, leading poetry and writing workshops.

He said more literacy programs in elementary and middle schools is something he would like to see incorporated in school curriculum.

“I’ve seen a decline (in literacy rates) during the workshops.”

“I’m still young and feel I have a lot to contribute. I’ve seen a lot to improve,” the 27-year-old said, pointing to better nutritional programs and new physical education programs.



http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/874903--third-candidate-for-public-school-board-trustee-post

Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah ...

If I asked for people to die for the sake of God
I would have them lining up at my house ...

But when I ask people to live for the sake of God
I can’t find anyone ...

How public education cripples our kids, and why ...

Really good article written by John Taylor Gatto:

http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm

God Bless Sam Cooke ...

Rumi ...

Amazing ...

Have they never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain wisdom, and causing their ears to hear? Indeed, it is not their eyes that become blind, but blind become their hearts that are in the chests

- (Qur'an, 22:46)

Malcolm X ...

I'm for truth, no matter who tells it ...
I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against ...
I'm a human being, first and foremost ...

And as such ... 

I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole ...

The Blessed Tree - Trailer from AGCaustralia on Vimeo.

Lupe Fiasco ...

If they burn a book have no worries ... The book will feel NO pain so neither should you ... True destruction of the Quran cannot be done with fire ... It is destroyed when we fail to remember and practice its lessons in our daily lives ... If this occurs, then it is ANOTHER fire that you should truly be concerned about ...

Some Points From My Readings ...

- You should develop the ability to reason accurately and independently rather than accepting ideas based solely on authority or tradition ...

- Our egos cause us to cherish opinions, judge others and rationalize our beliefs ... Perennialists ask “Would you rather be right or be happy?” ...

- We should exercise humility .... Not because others find it attractive (although they do) ... But because, if we are honest with ourselves, we have much to be humble about ...

- We should practice forgiveness ... When we forgive others, we find that others forgive us ... And that we forgive ourselves ...

- Moral development comes from strengthening our impulse control, prioritizing personal relationships and fostering social responsibility ...

Dreamhouse view ...

Forgiveness ...

Performed by the late Ofra Haza and singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Hebrew and Urdu ... 

A Jew and a Muslim ... 

Dedicated to the latest peace talks between the Israeli's and Palestinian's ... 

May both singers rest in peace for their attempts ...

Ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyyah ...

The love of the Beloved must be unconditionally returned ...

If you claim love, yet oppose the Beloved, then your love is but a pretense ...

You love the enemies of your Beloved, and still seek love in return ...

You fight the beloved of your Beloved ...

Is this love or the following of Satan ???

True devotion is nothing but total submission of body and soul to One Love ...

We have seen humans claim to submit, yet their loyalties are many ...

They put their trust here, and their hope there ... 

And their love is without consequence ...

My city ...

Nuff said ...