A Muslim poet
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Posted by Al Gordon on 08:52:34 2005/05/29
Writing poetry is not generally a high-risk career, but for Sheniz Janmohamed, a Muslim woman, speaking from the heart and the head is a risky business. Those who believe she should only speak from dogma will feel threatened by such honesty.
Below is some of her poetry, beautiful both in its form and its message. If you're like me and almost never read poetry, you're in for a pleasant surprise!
Thanks to Mike Diamond for sending this along.
BIOGRAPHY
Sheniz Janmohamed is a spoken word artist, poet and Indian dancer with a fierce ambition and too many ideas. She is the president and founder of Ignite Poets, an initiative that provides young poets with opportunities to perform and collaborate together for various causes. She has been featured in Poetry Canada, The Hart House Review, the UC Review and various other publications. She has performed her work at Harbourfront, Hart House's WRITuals and El Mocambo. She recently completed her third year at the University of Toronto, studying English Literature and Comparative Religion.
Redemption
The star and crescent united once again
Purified without the robes of raw scars
And torn fingernails
Olive trees
Glisten in the morning dew
The Rock of Ages gleams with golden raindrops
And the wave of redemption licks wounds clean
Muslim and Jew
Pray side by side
with visions of prophets
Smiling before them
The sun will not set in their hearts.
No exploding hate raping the Holy Land,
Only the lulling calmness of a sheet of stars
Hands of dreamers lift praises
Into the sky
Kissing the clouds with tears of relief
And weeping in seconds
of
resounding stillness
No menacing shadow hovering
Over the mountain
No cloaked knight soaked in blood
Only the delicate footsteps of children
Walking through dusty roads
Hand
In
Hand
© Sheniz Janmohamed
My People Killing My People
My people killing my people
My people killing my people
My people killing me
The shadows approached me
And told me to take their hands
That they would lead me to the Promised Land
And when we reached the valley of unbearable sighs
I realized
They had told me lies
The bombs blew up inside of me/cause I was too blind to see/that they used pain /to gain my loyalty/ far from my dreams to be free/they sat me down/stole my crown/and tortured me/the very people who said they'd save me/the very people who opened the door/threw out the keys
My people killing my people
My people killing my people
My people killing me
And as I stood on the shores and spoke back/they tore out my heart and continued the attack/and now for my words they've thrown me in jail/slapped, stamped, silenced/convicted with no bail
They say I've betrayed their trust/and killing their own is just?/speaking on behalf of the Book/by killing a child without a second look?/and so I said to them/you can't break me/you can't shake me/you may take me/and rape me/to silence me/but I continue to speak/You are not the strong/I am not the weak/
My people killing my people
My people killing my people
My people killing me
They think that they are the predators/but they're really the prey/and the day will come/for them to face/all the souls they've killed in this place
The time has come
Do you see them coming?
I hear the footsteps
But I do not fear
I hear the screams
But I do not fear
For I know
My words will echo in the newborn's ear
Any last words before we shoot you in the head?
You may kill me
but I refuse to be dead.
© Sheniz Janmohamed
Silenced
My heart is broken
My visions are torn
My spirit is weary
My talent is scorned
The faith of my ancestors
spit on by those who scream
Those who kill, terrorize to blow off steam
Those whose names make it in the news
Speaking words as if they were true, like:
"Sh'ias are the most fanatic Muslims"
Words spoken by a Muslim in Sidney Smith hall
I'm a Sh'ia
Tell me, why should I fall
For the words and actions of others?
Why does ignorance breed where
Knowledge should thrive?
Why do we have to kill
In order to survive?
I am sick
I am silenced
I sit in prayer because I believe in the Oneness of the universe
But the fanatics would say I'm lying and I'm cursed
I have no voice except through this pen
My soul is locked in silence's den
I want you to see that I do not hate you
Nor do I wish to erase you
Our books are the same
With different names
But I am sick
I am silenced
For
The ones who speak
are the ones who are weak
The ones who are heard
speak words absurd
The ones with the fury
silence the jury
The ones who
have no true understanding
Are the ones demanding
Respect
While I lose mine.
I am sick
I am silenced.
© Sheniz Janmohamed
From the Voice of a Muslim
I fell asleep between a dark shadow and the light of the moon
You called me a lost soul, a drowned spirit and a betrayer.
I am all of those to you, and you may call me what you wish, but
You cannot decide my faith for me and you cannot claim my prayers to be whispers against the fury of the ocean.
You say "You do not know the pillars of our faith."
I say, 'You do not understand the pillars of our faith." It is one thing to memorize and it is another thing to practise, my brother.
You say, "You do not cover your body, you are not a Muslim"
And I say, sister, you may choose to do what you wish, but God sees me naked in the fits of wrath and the in weakest moments of my integrity, and nothing can shield me from his knowledge.
I submit to him through these very words, through my faults as a human, and I choose not to cover my body but I do not dishonour those who do.
You say, "You befriend the Jews, our enemies who have stolen our lands and raped us of freedom."
And I say, " If you believe that all Jews have betrayed you, then you give others permission to believe that all Muslims are terrorists."
It is the politics that are veiled underneath the doctrines of religion that separate souls.
You say,
"You cannot be one of us, you are not!"
And I say,
I am part of this universe
I am part of you indefinitely
And once you realize this,
You will not separate yourself
From the soul of the earth,
Which lies within the hearts of all people,
Sleeping, waiting
To be awoken.
I have woken up and realized
That we are One
And
I am Muslim.
Do not deny me of my right
To love God.
© Sheniz Janmohamed
The Muslim
For you
I will be an oppressed Muslim
And hide
Putting on slip dresses
Underneath my dark robe
While lining my eyes with kohl
For you
I will be a terrorist Muslim
And blow up
Children on sun spilled alleys
Scrawling holy words
With their blood
For you
I will be the learned Muslim
And preach hate
To the masses
While reciting the Qur'an
In fervour
For you
I will be the majority Muslim
And speak out in hushed rooms
While mute in crowds
Fearing the strangling hand
Of my alleged brother
For you
I will be a Western Muslim
And declare we've been mislead
While sipping my Starbuck's coffee
Flailing my arms in
protest
For you
I will be an Ismaili Muslim
Or as you'd say
'Not Muslim at all,
A Jew of Islam'
Spit on and stabbed
Mocked at and denied,
Running through
the endless seams of change
Tearing the fabric between us
And relentlessly
Exposing the veil
Of who I am.
© Sheniz Janmohamed
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