My first letter to my new friend from Babylon
Mohammed Dear
I am SO excited to be writing to you, that I find my head running WAY TOO FAST for my fingers to keep up...
How do I arrange my thoughts?..........why am I so excited anyway?.............Maybe it was the message you've sent me with those seven questions that woke me up.............Maybe it is the depth and honesty of your words?.......Maybe a connection once lost?................. Maybe I see an opportunity for bridges?................. A pure and open heart, that I recognize on a level beyond my conscious mind?......
Who cares!.....
All I can admit to, is that my heart is beating faster than the speed of light, as I write this, and my hands are a bit shaky.....
I may have to write my letter to you in few parts.... So, stay tuned.....
Let me start by saying that I am beyond touched by the words you chose to describe me/ an artist and a poetess to your daughter....
You said: I like to tell you that one day, my daughter ( who is a student in the college of science / chemistry department / second year) asked me a question : How can one distinguish an artist ? It was such a difficult question that I couldn't answer it !
Now, after seeing your nice photo, I'll go back to my daughter to tell her : If you see a woman with :
1 - clumsy thick untidied hair
2 - a very very wide & reflexive smile
3 - a Greek nice nose
4 - expressive semi-closed eyes
5 - small but attractive cheeks ...
I am so touched, and in a shy voice, I whisper.......: "tell her that a poetess also has VERY clean teeth...."
(I have just been to the dentist for a cleaning...)
And that she is a strong swimmer (just been swimming in the recreation center by us.)
You say that I should forgive your grammatical mistakes in English, you say that Arabic is your first language.......
The first thought that comes to my mind is: "who am I to judge? English is not my first language also, AND I can't spell anything.......
Second thought:Damn,
damn,
damn,
I wish I studied Arabic in school instead of French.....
Four years of French, and all I can say is: "Excusez moi, Ou Sont les toilettes? (excuse me, where is the toilet/ bathroom?)
Oh, And another sentence stands in my mind, one that will only serve me well if I will ever become a weather girl on TV : Il pleut! Porquoi? Parce que il ya des nouages...(it rains,... Why? Because there are clouds),
But, I fear that I am not pretty enough to become a weather girl, and so, I may never have the opportunity to put my four years of French education, into practice........
You say that you live in Iraq, and that you are a poet, and that you also critique poetry.
The first thing that comes to my mind is....: Man, You are my first friend from Iraq in like a million years.....
Smadi, My best friend from high school, was born to parents who are of Iraqi decent.
I remember visiting her home. I remember the warmth of it......
My own home, did NOT feel like a sanctuary to me.
But Smadi had loving parents.
In their small kitchen, her mom used to demonstrate to us, how to cook "Cube" (I am sure I am not spelling it right) and her dad, taught me how to make Umba (pickled mango, much like the Indians do...)
Smadi lives in Switzerland now, and she and her teenage daughters, speak almost every European language on that beautiful continent.
The second thing that comes to my mind, is how much your country needs love.
But I am not here to save the world, just to make friends and real heart connections.
Speaking about saving the world, I am getting SO many charity and "join my cause" invitations, I was thinking to Start my own......
It will read something like this:
Please join me in trying to save the blue eyed, turquoise striped, beluga whale, who is currently getting extinct, because it feeds on a diet of white Alaskan wolves who have green eyes, that are also getting extinct in a rapid pace...... Because they feed on rare diet of yellow butterflies with blue dots, who are getting extinct because of deforestation in the Amazon...."
But I fear NOBODY will join me anyway....
I am going to dinner now, so I will write more tomorrow.
I am SO happy we are friends....
I am SO excited to be writing to you, that I find my head running WAY TOO FAST for my fingers to keep up...
How do I arrange my thoughts?..........why am I so excited anyway?.............Maybe it was the message you've sent me with those seven questions that woke me up.............Maybe it is the depth and honesty of your words?.......Maybe a connection once lost?................. Maybe I see an opportunity for bridges?................. A pure and open heart, that I recognize on a level beyond my conscious mind?......
Who cares!.....
All I can admit to, is that my heart is beating faster than the speed of light, as I write this, and my hands are a bit shaky.....
I may have to write my letter to you in few parts.... So, stay tuned.....
Let me start by saying that I am beyond touched by the words you chose to describe me/ an artist and a poetess to your daughter....
You said: I like to tell you that one day, my daughter ( who is a student in the college of science / chemistry department / second year) asked me a question : How can one distinguish an artist ? It was such a difficult question that I couldn't answer it !
Now, after seeing your nice photo, I'll go back to my daughter to tell her : If you see a woman with :
1 - clumsy thick untidied hair
2 - a very very wide & reflexive smile
3 - a Greek nice nose
4 - expressive semi-closed eyes
5 - small but attractive cheeks ...
I am so touched, and in a shy voice, I whisper.......: "tell her that a poetess also has VERY clean teeth...."
(I have just been to the dentist for a cleaning...)
And that she is a strong swimmer (just been swimming in the recreation center by us.)
You say that I should forgive your grammatical mistakes in English, you say that Arabic is your first language.......
The first thought that comes to my mind is: "who am I to judge? English is not my first language also, AND I can't spell anything.......
Second thought:Damn,
damn,
damn,
I wish I studied Arabic in school instead of French.....
Four years of French, and all I can say is: "Excusez moi, Ou Sont les toilettes? (excuse me, where is the toilet/ bathroom?)
Oh, And another sentence stands in my mind, one that will only serve me well if I will ever become a weather girl on TV : Il pleut! Porquoi? Parce que il ya des nouages...(it rains,... Why? Because there are clouds),
But, I fear that I am not pretty enough to become a weather girl, and so, I may never have the opportunity to put my four years of French education, into practice........
You say that you live in Iraq, and that you are a poet, and that you also critique poetry.
The first thing that comes to my mind is....: Man, You are my first friend from Iraq in like a million years.....
Smadi, My best friend from high school, was born to parents who are of Iraqi decent.
I remember visiting her home. I remember the warmth of it......
My own home, did NOT feel like a sanctuary to me.
But Smadi had loving parents.
In their small kitchen, her mom used to demonstrate to us, how to cook "Cube" (I am sure I am not spelling it right) and her dad, taught me how to make Umba (pickled mango, much like the Indians do...)
Smadi lives in Switzerland now, and she and her teenage daughters, speak almost every European language on that beautiful continent.
The second thing that comes to my mind, is how much your country needs love.
But I am not here to save the world, just to make friends and real heart connections.
Speaking about saving the world, I am getting SO many charity and "join my cause" invitations, I was thinking to Start my own......
It will read something like this:
Please join me in trying to save the blue eyed, turquoise striped, beluga whale, who is currently getting extinct, because it feeds on a diet of white Alaskan wolves who have green eyes, that are also getting extinct in a rapid pace...... Because they feed on rare diet of yellow butterflies with blue dots, who are getting extinct because of deforestation in the Amazon...."
But I fear NOBODY will join me anyway....
I am going to dinner now, so I will write more tomorrow.
I am SO happy we are friends....
