Father Iraq, Mother Palestine

     by - Farrah Sarafa

Mortar attacks a bus in Baghdad, 15 die
Civil war strife mirrors the war
America has waged on Iraqi life
More than two years ago.

How can this happen
How can this be
That I will never see
The land of my great grandfather?

I strive, I feel too much zeal
to help heal the schisms

splitting this poor country
and that of Palestine.
              

*

Hamas' request that they vacate the west
and return East Jerusalem
on which they settled, built checkpoint and a wall
In 1949

How can this happen
How can this be
That I will never see
The Land of my dear grandmother?

I cry, I whine, abstaining
From bodily pleasures
emptying myself
of the life deprived Iraq.

Copyright 2006.

Happy Absurdity Day

 I guess my question is, 

 

 

 

 

"Aren't they all, these days?"

Always November 20th

Don't sit back waiting for something absurd to happen. Rather, seek out things to do that are somewhat, if not wholly, illogical. Have fun with it. But, whatever you do, don't try to make sense with it.

Have a wonderful, mind boggling and absurd Absurdity Day!!

Cradle Song

- Sarojini Naidu
 

From groves of spice,
O'er fields of rice,
Athwart the lotus-stream,
I bring for you,
Aglint with dew,
A little lovely dream.

Sweet, shut your eyes,
The wild fire-flies
Dance through the fairy neem;
From the poppy-bole
For you I stole
A little lovely dream.

Dear eyes, good night,
In golden light
The stars around you gleam;
On you I Press
With soft caress
A little lovely dream.

(Illustration Source)

"Imagine . . .

. . .  if we had a pro-life movement that said the following: 

“We will study why particular women have particular abortions and see if there are things we can collectively do to reduce the pressures that cause women to end their pregnancies in this way.

We will measure our success not by what we are able to criminalize, but by reductions in abortion’s frequency. We’re already 1/3 of the way to our goal, as compared to 1980, and with continued effort we hope to achieve continuing reductions in the future.”

Such a statement would involve some considerable changes in the thinking of the pro-life movement. It would mean the end of abortion’s signifier as a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern world.

It would sever abortion from the larger debate over sexuality and spirituality–just as alcohol has been separated from debates over ethnicity and spirituality.

And it would define success in terms of abortion reduction rather than abortion prohibition.

- David Frum.

KIDS!

If God is everywhere, is he in my underwear?

- stephy,

Stuff Christian Culture Likes.

Housekeeping Just Doesn't Run in Our Family

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It's easier to demonize those we don't know much about, but harder to criticize those we idolize.

- Richard Gartner,

author of Betrayed as Boys.

Why Studying Literature is Important

Is Moby Dick just a print version of Discovery's Deadliest Catch? Is there more to be gleaned from its pages than harrowing experiences and melodrama?

I have struggled to explain to my students, most of whom are struggling, why it is important to persevere even when they find the reading difficult or boring, and I found a great quote on The Dish that helps.

Andrew is quoting Nathaniel Philbrick, from Vanity Fair. In the article Mr. Philbrick expounds on the lessons in the story, the context and character, and how these things affect our lives. It is a wonderful dip into the world of Moby Dick, but it is also an illustration of how Reading Literature can expand and strengthen our critical thinking skills.

And between you and me, critical thinking seems to be on life support these days. Mr. Philbrick ends with:

So how do we face a world in which yet another cataclysm, whether it be environmental, financial, or terrorist-devised, always seems to be just around the corner? I think it’s Ishmael who puts it best. Nearly halfway into the novel, after almost getting killed in pursuit of a whale, he says,

“There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own.”

*  Moby Dick, Moby Dick, Moby Dick, Moby Dick *