Best Jordanian Poems
No, my Lord,
Mercy, for their wretched souls, I could
Never ask
Let them burn into eternity for their atrocious crimes,
Committed against humanity
And
Against the law of Thy infinite love !*
© Demetrios Trifiatis
07 FEBRUARY 2015
*After burning a Jordanian pilot alive, decapitating two Japanese
journalists and killing a woman for not wearing shoes, yesterday the
fanatics decapitated a father and a son in Iraq. When all this end?
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Jovial Dr Jekyll played for juvenile Justice
a just jaspered journey
jokingly jumped a joyride
to juicy jukebox jabbering
in jackal jackboots
from nearby jungle
Dr Jekyll clasped a jackknife eating
jambalaya to justify a
juggled juxtapositional
jurisdiction jamming
as jugular vein jingled jewels
joyfully jauntily jaywalking
to a jay named Jim Jolly !
Onward he jumped to a
Jungian junction
Jupiter jocund watching his
journeying joints
journalese seemed a jibe jig
but neither Jewess, Jesuit
or jeweller jiggled this job
So he jerked his jess
like a jape for Japan
Jejuning onto January for the
next jangle of jasmine
No jellyfish was Dr Jekyll in Jordanian jerkin
though sometimes Mr Hyde
with jeroboam swirling alongside !
Across lands of streets, stone and desert
A breeze in a waltz for trees to avert,
I flow with the freedom of a river in a bay
Across mountains and winds with passion I sway
From the historical Petra, upon the purity of its sands
To the salty waters of the Dead Sea, prosperity in hands
At height upon its mountains, O’ Allah I pray
Embellished with the sunset of Wadi Rum, nature sleeps to allay
I mosey upon its Rabyeh streets, accompanied by its tender gust
I inhale the freshness of its varying cuisine, filled with utter lust
Gazing at its marvel in a background of family mirth
Across my Grand Ma’s balcony, Jordan fills the earth
In Jordan’s desert, a building façade
has been carved into the face of a vertical cliff.
Stairs leading to the structure are lined with lanterns.
Looking up, a view standing right of center,
stone appears orange near the base fading to black at its top.
Where cliff’s edge meets the night sky,
darkness brightens into starlight.
While appearing more ancient,
this façade has features of Roman architecture:
columns, shallow gables atop flat roofs, carved figures decorating idle spaces.
It has two stories.
It’s first has six columns.
Two are set back from the entrance that is supported by four beneath a gable.
Two horses are carved on wall between first and second column,
two more are carved between fourth and sixth column.
Inside a portico behind the center four columns,
steps lead up to a tall entrance, black,
an opening to a large chamber inside the rock.
The second story, as wide as first, has a block cut from its center.
At each side are half gables, supported by two columns.
Statues are carved beneath each gable.
Between these gables is a turret supported with columns.
A statue of a human figure stands within the turret.
The grand scale of the western façade should be alien in the Jordanian desert.
It should be, but is not.
If taken from the rock and perfectly constructed in Washington D.C.,
with a coat of white paint, it would not look out of place.
A fusion of West and East, this place begs questions about the people who carved it,
political and religious beliefs of their civilization,
its purpose in a desert,
and how it could be ahead of its time.
Oblivion gone away
Into a shimmering night sky,
Fires of fury doused
By a sparkle of the moon's eye,
Ambiance rinsed by effervescence
As souls lie,
Amidst a milieu of rejoicing time,
Living a Jordanian Night...
The Salt of the Earth
Who is the Salt of the Earth?
Is it Pakistani musicians making music with pyramids and suffering?
Is it Pakistani musicians finding suffering in heart problems and untimely
hospital stays?
Is it Jordanian warriors tied to their culture, but yearning for the love of the world?
Is it soft hearted geniuses doubting their own efficacy but yet affirming my soul?
Who is the Salt of the Earth?
Is it Divinity Students weighted down by the complexities of a God who would
forsake the downtrodden?
Or good hearted economists calling them commies?
Is it bow tie wearing conservatives who feed my mind yet bring a wry smile?
Is it Lesbian ethics professors who wage war on injustice?
Who is the Salt of the Earth?
Is it Jewish prophets of industry who volunteer to fight on the front lines and
receive stress and conflict in return?
Is it Jewish prophets of industry who write with courage and integrity to
publishers who shun the very idea of the Divine?
Is it cross wearing angels of administration who work behind close doors of
schedules and student suffering?
Who is the Salt of the Earth?
Is it Buddhist clinicians who start health care programs and help the unfeeling to
feel?
Is it loving pastors who pray with sincerity and conviction?
Is it a woman on the street teaching the rest of us to be grateful?
Or is it some wonderful euphony?
Or is it some wonderful euphony of people in conflict, yet all serving the same
goal?
Or is it some wonderful sound, as a sweet incense that though we refuse to
understand each other or consider the others vantage, together because our
hearts are good,
Together because our hearts are good.
Together because our hearts are good, we become a sound.
We become the sound of rushing water, and preserve the earth as one.
hostel life
you never know with whom
you'll share a room
a cappuccino
or
a piece of life
Fatima is not her name
just what she goes by
in Turkey if you're Kurdish
it's safer to be a Fatima
in Dublin she can be (her Kurdish name)
it's just something she doesn't
want to get used to
in Venice, Kaldoun asks in Arabic
what I think about the war
In the phone we share
I tell Google
I hope it's the end of Putin
he reads my words (in Arabic)
and replies
many children will die before
the end of Putin
gives me pause
there needs to be talks
a political solution
he says
I agree
but is there any talking to
a malevolent tyrant?
we must try he says
a little sidewalk cafe where
for most of the morning
we fill the Venetian air
with Arabic/English conversation
striking deep chords
about humanity (and inhumanity)
a young Jordanian chemist from Munich
an old school teacher from Arizona
and Google….
where would we be
without Google
Take a bit of Canadian family
Add a pinch of American descent
Sprinkle in a bit of Jordanian roots
And mix in a bit of Judaism
With a hint of Christianity
Mix in a bit of pure genes
With some nice features just to make a hint
Add a bit of love and care to the mix
And pop it into the oven
Bake at the perfect temperature
Until perfectly done
Take out of the oven and add the secret ingredient
FAMILY
There you have it
A recipe for roots!
I’m in love with an Iraqi girl
And she’s from a Jordanian world
And she lives in a Malaysian town
With her heart of gold
I’m in love with an Iraqi girl
And I need her in my arms to hold
Cause its snowing in New York
And only she can warm my soul
And she’s got black hair of curls
And she’s so fearless and bold
And she’s like an Arabian princess
Of which legends are told
And when she wave her hands
The magic carpet takes to flight
And when she blinks her eyes
The stars all shines so bright
I’m in love with an Iraqi girl
Who my heart in her control
And she keeps it next to hers
With all the love in the world
And she goes to the candy shop
She runs around like a little child
And when the circus comes to town
Her face lights up with a smile
I’m in love with this Iraqi girl
God made her and destroy the mold
True love can’t be bought
And true love can’t be sold
One day we will be together
And leave the loneliness behind
And when the wedding bells will chime
And our hearts will become entwined
Yeah I’m in love with this Iraqi girl
I love her with my heart and soul
And one day when have our children
And our love story will be told
News Time
Upon waking I checked the online news. And was shocked to see a plane crashing. The photo showed it clipping a motorway bridge. It looked like a whale about to die. The cart wheeling crash ended in the sea. Survivors struggled from the wreckage but most died. Caught by stormy weather from the nearby typhoon. It doomed their plane, stealing lives.
If that wasn't enough, seeing the Jordanian F-16 pilot captured by ISIS was utter hell. If being shot down and held prisoner wasn't enough, the Muslim extremist terrorists burnt him live in a cage. All caught on video. Was this because he was an enemy pilot who bombed them? What will his widow think? Jordan's revenge was immediate. Several terrorists were hung.
What will I see next? Something even worse to shock me? What happens if I become desensitised? And aren't affected by the evil reported events? I must keep my humanity close.