W I B

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WOMEN in BLACK

Saturday, February 10, 2006
promptly at NOON

FEBRUARY: W.I.B-Detroit will conduct their monthly silent march in the City of Hamtramck.

Their silent and famously dramatic method of marching against war and violence, in single file, all dressed in black, with only the sound of one large drum, will begin in Pope Park, at the corner Jos Campau & Belmont Streets, at Noon.

Women, men, children welcome. Please wear Black.

Click for historical info about WIB

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(A Respite from my Respite)

"A Poem and a Painting"
or
"Painting with Coffee Grinds"

Yes, I painted with coffee grinds, from a rakwa. (I dipped my brush directly into the rakwa.) As I was painting, I soon realized that although the coffee will stain the paper with a faint translucent affect, the majority of the grinds will not be permanent once the coffee dries, but will easily flake off. So I took a picture of the painting when I finished it, and another picture after I flaked away all the dried coffee grinds.

I give you both paintings (before and after flaking) and an accompanying poem.
(click on painting for a larger image.)

The Tapping of Brass

The tapping of brass

The tapping of brass

The unforgetfulness

Of my sorrow, My love

The wind sings me now

The wind comes

To pluck at the ropes of my core

And pull out smoothly the strings

Of my eyes

Until the desire of the clanking

Against the insides of my ribs,

Like the gurgling of hungry

Infant birds to be let free,

Builds infinitely with sound

Like ladder rungs to the heavens

The tapping of brass

A Bedouin woman,

Alone in the vast

Desert within my breast

Clad in black,

Clangs her brass belongings and sings

To wake any human from beneath the sands

Whisper tapping faint bones

From behind distant clouds

Awoken by pity to answer her

Fainter than remembrance of a spring

Without song, last war

The tapping within me

The wind through my eyes

The toppling of my bones

Like a rock pile that laughs

I am the last of this suicidal race

Finally atop these dunes,

With my open hands

© Ibn Bint Jbeil
"The Tapping of Brass" 1996
Coffee Painting 2007

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taking a respite
from the blogosphere
until about mid-february



Belle Isle Arboretum
watercolor, 1997
© Ibn Bint Jbeil

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"Ya Tayr" by Our Beloved Fairuz
with translation


يا طير يا طاير على اطراف الدني
ya tayr ya tayir 3ala traf e-dini
O' travelling bird, flying unto the edges of the Earth
لو فيك تحكي للحبايب شو بني يا طير
law feek ti7ki lel-habayib shou bini ya tayr
If only you could relate to my loved ones my worry

روح اسألهم عن اللي وليفه مش معه
rou7 is2alhon 3an li walifoo mish ma3oo
Go and ask about he who is without his kindred
و مجروح بجروح الهوا شو بينفعه
w majrou7 bi jroo7 el-hawa shou byinfa3oo
He is wounded with the wounds of desire, what good is it
موجوع ما بقول عن اللي بيوجه
mawjoo3 ma bi 2oul 3an libyouja3oo
He aches, but does not profess about that which pains him
وتعن عباله ليالي الولدنة
w t3in 3a baloo layali el-waldani
And the nights of youth tug at him longingly

يا طير يا طاير على اطراف الدني
ya tayr ya tayir 3ala traf e-dini
O' travelling bird, flying unto the edges of the Earth
لو فيك تحكي للحبايب شو بني يا طير
law feek ti7ki lel-habayib shou bini ya tayr
If only you could relate to my loved ones my worry

يا طير وآخذ معك لون الشجر
ya tayr, w a5id ma3ak lawn e-shajar
O bird which takes away with you the colors of the trees
ما عاد في إلا هالنطرة والضجر
ma 3ad fi illa ha-natra wi-dajar
Nothing remains but my wait and my tediousness
بنطر بعين الشمس عبرد الحجر
bontor bi 3ayn e-shams 3a bard el-7ajar
I wait in the eye of the sun, and upon the cold stone
وملبكي وإيد الفراق تهدني
w mlabbaki w eed lifra2 t-hiddni
And in my worry, the hand of separation tears me down

يا طير يا طاير على اطراف الدني
ya tayr ya tayir 3ala traf e-dini
O' travelling bird, flying unto the edges of the Earth
لو فيك تحكي للحبايب شو بني يا طير
law feek ti7ki lel-habayib shou bini ya tayr
If only you could relate to my loved ones my worry

وحيات ريشاتك وايامي سوا
wi7yat rishatak w iyyami sawa
I beseach you by your feathers, and by my days,
وحيات زهر الشوك وهبوب الهوا
wi7yat zahr e-shawk w hboob el-hawa
By the flowerbuds of the thornbush, and by the gusts of the wind,
كنك لعندهم رايح و جن الهوا
kannak la3indon rayi7 w jann el-hawa
If you happened to go to them and the wind happened to rage
خذني ولنو شي دقيقة وردني
5idni w lanno shee d2i2a w ridni
Take me, if but for a minute, and then return me

يا طير يا طاير على اطراف الدني
ya tayr ya tayir 3ala traf e-dini
O' travelling bird, flying unto the edges of the Earth
لو فيك تحكي للحبايب شو بني يا طير
law feek ti7ki lel-habayib shou bini ya tayr
If only you could relate to my loved ones my worry
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A bilingual Poem قصيدة بلغتين

بيروت، بغداد
hatred billows
permeating through windows
reaching your sitto’s صاج morning
inscribing tracks of corrosion,
warm, brown unassuming script,
pricking that old iron dome of حنين

a grey raven gives cries about his persecution
its beak pushes aside that mental جدار
ليفصل مساحة بين شرائط التلفون
it looks up, upwards
unto the white blue sanctity above
and pierces scissor-sharp notchings
in that oldest skin of the sky

meager desolate crickets, hungry
tall metal and grassy columns keep them in lost
shadowy days and epochs
their footsteps tred among shards of faint light
weak legs dragging whispered hysterics
to an old friend’s decaying كعك pushcart
وتنفس ٍ متعب ٍ وثقيل

يا عينيّي لغتي أصبحت لوناً لا تراه
عندما وضعتـُكَ ظننت
أن غداً سيشرق بشمس الوجوه الكريمة

يابني ليش مابتشرب من ترابنا
ليش بتكتب عا درب دارنا
كذبات بخطوط سقعة

أضعتـََكَ من يوم الي ودعناك
عى حفة البركة


© Ibn Bint Jbeil 2007
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Twilight Zone Marathon

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Happy New Year and all.

I posted about the execution yesterday but it is still such a prevalent aura. The Americans insisted to their Iraqi government that they will execute on Eid. Nice and tasteful. Right on, King George. Kind of leaves a taste in one's mouth reminiscent of the days when Sad-dam was the U.S.'s lackey for waging war. Now he has switched roles with his ex-victims, and the victims have become the executors of Super Power orders.

But wait! On this first day of the new year, the SciFi channel is running a Twilight Zone marathon all day long! This is very befitting of the current mood and I will be glued to my television set and will watch every episode today.

Twilight Zone, hooray! sigh.

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