poemsbyninotaziz: 2013

A letter. Blood rushes to my head.

Crimson skies

As red as blood

Smells like rust

_____

The letter sits

on the window sill, untouched

Harbinger of bad blood

______

with only one look

Blood rushes to my head -

Summer is over

________

For Haikuheights and Magpietales.

An experiment in storytelling

The storyteller Part II

The moon is high in the sky this moment

I have all that I wish in this moment

The lingering scent of perfume in the air

My resolve to go vanished this moment

As you catch my widened eyes and parted lips

Time and place is banished, this moment

Deep sighs intermingle with passion
The story undiminished this moment

A tear escapes at the end of the tale
Caught by forlorn and anguish this moment

My listener sits so still, enraptured
The storyteller shall cherish this moment

by ninotaziz
all rights reserved

For more ghazals, explore here at dVersepoets

Typhoon Haiyan

typhoons continue

to vent its rage, I do pray

my dear friends are safe

____________________

Arian and Kelvin

And thousand of Philippinos across the islands

I hope all is well, my friends.

Happy Birthday Tess!

And thank you for inviting all of us.

A gift for our fabulous host!

Click to open gift!

A Birthday Gift!

Hope you like it, Tess!

(I wanted to get the strawberry arnaud, but even in cyberspace, it was way too over the top!)

la lune donne de la brillance
tout est baigné dans la poussière de fée
au Willow Bal ce soir

les mots de ninotaziz

___________

The moon shines softly
and all is shimmering in fairy dust
At the Willow Ball tonight

______

I almost could not attend this year.

But a quick glimpse at the preparations, and I was hooked. It looks like so much fun. And Helen is already there!

So now I am in a frenzy trying to rent a fabulous gown and mask.

And who shall I ask at this last minute?

__________________

Black and simplicity
always work well together…

_________________

However, the Willow Manor is awashed in gold this year.
So here is my mask instead. Delicate enough for a fairy.

And his…

______________________________

As for my gown, here is a traditional Malay Kebaya everyone…

_________________

I am almost ready. The music is playing…

_____________

After all the dates I considered, looks like I can't run away from this guy even in cyberspace.

I am hooked for life.

_________

Malam sungguh syahdu
Tirai berlabuh bermandikan rembulan
Di bawah pohon beringin…

Time

Image by Crilleb50

Contemplative about the past

Speculative about the future

I forgot to live in the present

by ninotaziz

______________________________________

For Magpie Tales

Dave

It's lovely three times over - Dave King

Autumn is gentle

And on its velvety carpet

You walked away into the night

Did I say thank you

For all the kind words you gave

Before I am forced to say adieu

Thank you Dave

For poetry til the end

Gentle, kind and brave

Til the end.

Rest in peace.

At dawn tomorrow...

At dawn tomorrow, when the land is a blanket of white,

I’ll leave. I know, you're waiting for me to come to you.
I will walk the deep forest and mountain's height.
I can no longer live, so far away from you.

- Victor Hugo

Love

Discovered at the point of despair

Brings all senses to a grinding halt

Time is frozen, we dance in that moment

Where the world we believe, ceases to exist

There shines a brilliant tunnel of light

It takes me to you, incredibly true

I have to merely, follow serendipity

Such discovery, I will drown in sensual delight

At dawn tomorrow, when the land is a blanket of white…

Bittersweet

This heady romantic glow cannot last

Its energy is like a shooting star

Travelling the universe at lightning speed

It grows within like a torturous need

And yet, as it burns, it runs out of fuel

The cold star travels its course forever

Ashes to ashes, before passion disappears

Even for one as lovely as you, I know it is true

I’ll leave. I know, you're waiting for me to come to you

Pining

Alas, with each step that drags me away

It is only my heart that I leave behind

I thus wonder, how will I live through this pain

How do I get the scent of you out of my mind

And as the last bright spark of light

Fades away and darkness falls through

I know now I will walk the rest of my days

Willing you to appear within my sight

I will walk the deep forest and mountain's height.

Forever

Having tasted what was mine for an instant

The memory sears through eternity

Within the chaos of change, the only constant

As I breathe, think, live and dream

What do I do, what do I do

Where do I find solace for my lost love

my own arrogance, my self destruction

For in the end, i realize the bitter truth

I can no longer live, so far away from you.

Demain Dès l'Aube

Demain, dès l'aube, à l'heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m'attends.
J'irai par la forêt, j'irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

- Victor Hugo

_____________________________________________

For Poets United
Writers are Lovers

The Sweet Days Die

the secret

this rough magic

the time of our time

imagine a place

paradise

chasing rumi

the name of the rose

a midsummer's night dream

the prophecies
of nostradamus

east of the sun

west of the moon

abundance

________________________________

This is a LATE response to Samuel's prompt over at dVerse Bar

Book Spine Poetry

These are books from my bedroom shelves. I suppose if I pick books from the girls' Young Adult collection it would be an apocalypse poetry!

fields of gold

gold specks in your eyes

reflect the autumn sunshine

the wheat in the fields

by ninotaziz

___________________________

for haikuheights

The moth

moth clamours for light

yet from the heat, she suffers

her heart soars high

while her wings flutter

and thus the moth slowly dies

in pursuit of happiness.

_______________________

For magpietales

HIKAYAT SHORTLISTED FOR THE PNM-RTM BOOK AWARDS

HIKAYAT - From The Ancient Malay Kingdoms was shortlisted for the Malaysian PNM-RTM Book Awards. Voting begins tomorrow and will close on 28th September 2013.

Here is a video on HIKAYAT with a wonderful introduction by Resensi host, Sayed Munawar.

I am thrilled and humbled that HIKAYAT was shortlisted for this nationwide award.

TOP 10 List so far: 1 Contengan Jalanan / Hlovate 2 I love you, stupid! / Melur Jelita 3 Hikayat : From The Ancient Malay Kingdoms / retold by ninotaziz 4 Cinta high class & cintaku kerana agamamu / Fatimah Syarha, Farhan Hadi 5 Cucur bawang & kopi 'o' / Hasrudi Jawawi 6 Hingga hujung waktu / Saidee Nor Azam 7 My precious Iris / Melur Jelita 8 Kembara sastera Nisah Haron : United Kingdom dan Dublin / Nisah Haron 9 Berjuta warna pelangi / Iris Ixora 10 Kuasa kata : dari lisan mengalir ke lautan aksara / sebuah memoir Mahaya Mohd. Yassin Title : Hikayat - From The Ancient Malay Kingdoms ISBN : 978-967-61-2540-8 Penulis - ninotaziz http://www.pnm.gov.my/anugerahbukupnm-rtm/pencalonan.php

Please do continue to vote and share daily

Thank you all for your support.

Butter

corn on the cob

autum hearth

fireside warmth

chit chat

heavenly bliss

by ninotaziz

____________________________

for haiku heights

river

river, running cold and chilled, liberates

stones, leaves and the flurrying clouds

___________________________

for haikuheights

Superstition

The grey skies chase spring

away, as trees bare their souls

superstition flies

____________________________

for haikuheights

Doomed

I spread my gothic wings
fly to the winsome moon, and
look down to the mirror lake

Oh how majestic! I cry

I am doomed.

#SAYSOMETHINGNICE CAMPAIGN - A HIKAYAT A DAY

Once again, I have to stay away for awhile from poetry.

Malaysia is celebrating its National Day from 31st August to 16th September and during this period I am involved in the #SaySomethingNice campaign.

This means, additional storytelling at schools and orphanages, campaign activities and uploading of a Hikayat A Day on Facebook, twitter and

my Hikayat Blog daily.

Next week, I will be doing A Hikayat A Day event with over 1000 kids at the Sri KDU school. There will be storytelling, sketches and drawing sessions with artist Malek Rahim.

Wish me luck!

NATIONAL DAY POETRY BY IRANI

we are lucky

to be born in a Malaysia

that is free

our ancestors fought daily

for another day

to live

hardship

blood and tears

finally freedom became ours

but are we really

the lucky generation

we have everything

except our memories

of our history

MERDEKA!

by Naquessia Irani

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We celebrate our National Day celebration on 31st August 2013. My daughter Irani (12) wrote this poem she would have to recite for our Merdeka celebrations in her school.

That's our Malaysian flag - the Jalur Gemilang, in our garden, a picture from a couple of years ago. The story is here. Time to take out the flag!

Dewi Tara

a princess

of ancient srivijaya

palembang

fell in love

with the builder
of borobodur, king samaratungga
let other kings
build a thousand temples
in one night

she longed for eternity

and sailed to sailendra

from their union, new conquerors

ruled nusantara

for a millennia

At Borobodur, Java

___________________________________

For Brian. And the G-Man.

Inspired by dVersepoets

Dewi Tara was a princess of Srivijaya in Sumatera, Indonesia. She married the Sailendran king Sumaratungga, who in the ninth century completed the largest Bhuddist temple on earth, today known as Borobodur. The bas-relief above adorns the Borobodur temple. Generally they illustrate the Jataka tales and other literature. However, on the third tier, if I am not mistaken, they depict actual scenes from the Sailendran court life.

I visited Borobodur in June this year with my daughter Inas. Without a guide, I despaired at ever finding the actual illustrations (miles of them all around the temple) I was interested in, i.e. the above scenes. But I did! Just about the time I was to give up, I turned the corner and found, first the ship! Then the court life illustrations. The pot above, is proof that centuries later, and we still love the same beautiful things in life. I have such terra-cotta pots in my garden and the house.

Inas, at the site of Prambanan
where 1000 temples were built in a night
(I'll tell you about it one day, Brian)

The Nusantara Princess : Tengku Mariam of Pahang

she played

the gamelan. its

magic carried across the paddy fields

took us to another time

of ancient ways. nature's

gifts that subtly change the landscape

the river. the mountains. left behind.

a princess. on

an amazing ship with white sails

cutting the waves. embracing the wind

she traveled to

unknown shores. new ways.

a stranger. a husband

people to rule. a kingdom

to enchant. to love. a queen now

they worshiped her.

her legacy

___________________________________

Sailendra. Campa. Majapahit. Patani. Inderapura.

The Nusantara princesses were key to many peaceful treaties. It would be shocking today, but in reality, these marriages still exist throughout royal houses from the east and the west.

Tengku Mariam of Pahang married Sultan Sulaiman of Terengganu in 1913 and brought a full gamelan set with her. The Sultan loved his queen deeply and did everything he could to give the gamelan the exposure and support to become popular and revered. The Tengku Ampuan recorded the dances and her principal dancers taught other palace performers this graceful art form and orchestra music.

Once again I find the story of how the late Mubin Sheppard saved a piece of our heritage. Years later he found Tengku Ampuan Mariam's gamelan set in Istana Kolam, set about finding the old masters to revive the art.

It is said that this song, the Lambang Sari was written by Tengku Ampuan Mariam herself.