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An Ode to the Stylish Cafes of Copenhagen
The aroma of coffee fills the air,As I sit in this cozy little square. A cafe is more than just a place to sit,It’s a haven for the creative, the dreamers, the misfits. Wherever life takes us, wherever we roam,A cafe will always feel like an adopted home.
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The Graph of a Cry
My dissertation is available as a book for academics, libraries, and those who are interested to read more about the phenomenal journey of the American ghazal. This dissertation analyzes the journey of the ancient Arabic poetic form of the ghazal to America to provide insights into transnational poetry and cultural mobility. While the movement of…
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What to make of this summer?
The Woman Who Turned Down a Date with a Cherry Farmer BY AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL Fredonia, NY Of course I regret it. I mean there I was under umbrellas of fruitso red they had to be borne of Summer, and no other season. Flip-flops and fishhooks. Ice cubes made of lemonade and sprigs of mint to slip in blue glasses of…
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My Transcendental Truth
Having recently given a guest lecture in Dr. Laura Rupp’s class on Translanguaging and Transnationalism, my mind kept going back to this old poem I had written: To tell you the truth Upon walking into an airport My body somehow becomes a machine Mechanical with nuts and bolts A system I cyclically follow My head…
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They hand you a box
They hand you a boxFour neat lines joined at supremely perfect right anglesYour body, rounded at the edges, pliable, more flesh than muscleSqueezing yourself into shape you triumph, look you say, I fitSkin compacted into nothingnessCells harnessed to behave One day, unexpectedly you spill outOver the edges, across the linesMass dictating it’s ruleslook they say,…
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When a poem is written like a telegram addressing a painting…
I am putting it on my agenda to feed the mind everyday with things of beauty, insightful words, and objects that inspire thought. It is an informal resolution for 2020, which so far has gone reasonably well. Recently, I read Sharon Olds’ Poem in the Form of a Telegram to Someone Looking at Henri Rousseau’s…
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Alicante is a State of Mind
A well-needed break came in the form of a short summer holiday to Alicante. We stayed at the Hotel Sercotel Suites del Mar; a delightful property with both sea and port views. I especially liked the attention the hotel has paid to little details that made our stay comfortable: extra sockets and USB points in…
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But let there be spaces in your togetherness
All you ever need to learn in life is written in The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.And he answered:Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.And how else can it be?The deeper that sorrow…
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I Shall Emerge!
Kawahigashi Hekigoto (1873-1937), Japanese poet and haiku pioneer writes: 初雷や ふるふが如き 雛の壇 Hatsu-rai ya/ Furuu ga gotoki/ Hina no dan The first thunder Is likely to shake The tiered doll stand. I feel that way about spring. As the heads of the first crocuses crown on my street I want to let out a guttural shriek, a…
