The World Poetry Cafe Radio Show with hosts Ariadne Sawyer and Israel Mota welcomed two amazing and strong poets Ghada Alatrash and Wanda-John Kehewin from different cultures and sharing some of the same truths in a powerful way. Ghada waited for five months to be on the show. World Poetry Lifetime Achievment Award Winner Vera Manuel blessed the show with her compelling and inspirational poem “When I First came To Know Myself“. The World Poetry Anthology 2001. To hear this groundbreaking show: CLICK HERE!
Featured Poet
Daughter of former Syrian Ambassador Jabr Alatrash, Ghada Alatrash immigrated with her family from Syria to the United States in 1986. She holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Oklahoma and is a translator from Arabic to English. She is an Op/Ed Columnist for Gulf News, UAE, and worked previously as an Op/Ed Columnist for the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. She taught English at Abu Dhabi Women’s College, UAE, and was formerly an Adjunct Lecturer of Arabic at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, USA. She served as a Board Member for the Multicultural Advisory Board of British Columbia, Canada. She is also a member of the New Pen League, New York. She is also currently translating a collection of short stories for Syrian novelist Najat Abdul Samad. She resides in Cranbrook, BC.
http://meaningwithinwords.com/
“And The Poem Remains”
Don’t you realize
that I have known you
since before your existence?
And, after the Earth was formed
we came to meet
as was predestined.
I patiently awaited
the slow beginning of time,
and then entered its passage
and travelled
in its eternal body
a thousand times
searching for you,
meanwhile you were next to me.
I asked all women about you
whilst you were all women.
I gazed at you
and savored you,
and could not break away
from underneath your shade.
I entered your depths,
and scooped from
the depth of your depths,
but I remained unfulfilled,
while you became greener,
more fruitful.
There was no end
to your bread and water,
and the man in me
could not be quenched,
for in you
there is no end to women.
How does your loaf not lessen?
We eat from it
but it does not lessen!
We distance ourselves from you,
we turn away from you,
but after a short while,
we return
desiring more
of your coveted bread.
How is it
that while the nights age in us,
you remain untouched;
we wear you throughout the ages,
but like a rose in a poem,
you do not wither;
recited a thousand times,
it always remains new!
If Earth were to return to water
to water we would also return,
and the poem remains.
Featured Poet
Wanda John-Kehewin! was on the show and read her beautiful poems including the One Thousand Cranes poem for the people of Japan. Come out for her book launch an celebrate her Empowered Poet Award at the World Poetry Canada International Peace Festival at UBC April 20th. Contact ariadnes@uniserve.com for more information.
Summary of upcoming book:
“In The Dog House”, has been written for those who are First Nations who will understand pain and loss through forthright honesty. It has also been written for those who wish to understand about the effects of colonization on a personal level, through a First Nation woman’s perspective. The book contains raw honesty about the loss of culture and finding ways to adapt through reflection and stumbling upon ‘right’ answers. It discusses taboo topics like alcohol addiction, abandonment, religion, sexual abuse and trying to understand it all through the creative writing process and finally giving up the shame and stigma.
“In The Dog House”, is a healing journey of sorts, a way of standing in my truth and a way to give others, like my mother a voice. It is about the love of Mother Nature and the quest for love even when I don’t understand what it is. Can anyone really describe a normal kind of love or a love so perfect without ever having had an example? This book touches on a bit of everything in my being as a First Nations woman searching for the truth and a way to be set free from the past.
The influences to write this book have been my children and the lost children who have lost a parent or both as a way to delve into another’s pain and bring about understanding so the abandonment is not personal anymore, but a life lesson in strength, understanding and leaving space for personal growth for oneself and for future generations. I have also been influenced by friends whose stories are so like my own that I can find the strength to be raw and honest and know I am not alone and that we relate to other human beings through pain, suffering and loss.
Links to her upcoming book:
http://talonbooks.com/books/in-the-dog-house
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Dog-House-Wanda-John-Kehewin/9780889227491
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-dog-house-wanda-john-kehewin/1113112502
Link to the Bio: at Talonbooks
http://www.talonbooks.com/authors/wanda-john-kehewin
