{"id":381,"date":"2007-04-13T16:12:34","date_gmt":"2007-04-13T20:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/2007\/04\/13\/the-sonnets-of-suleiman\/"},"modified":"2023-08-12T15:28:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T19:28:03","slug":"the-sonnets-of-suleiman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/the-sonnets-of-suleiman\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sonnets of Suleiman"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

                     I<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since first we met at London\u2019s rebuilt Globe,
\nMy world has been dissolved and made anew:
\nThis Palestinian Jonah crossed with Job
\nHas learnt that love can heal, because of you.
\nSome synchronistic thread or genial star
\nBrought us together, while the wholesome voice
\nAnd image I had dreamt of when afar
\nReleased me from the bonds of solemn choice.
\nFor there you were, beside me on the bench \u2013
\nThe black Israeli goddess of my nap,
\nWho did not rail or even slightly blench
\nWhen burst my bag of nuts above your lap.
\n++<\/span>The smile you gave was boundless as the sea,
\n++<\/span>And your indulgence surely set me free.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

                           II<\/span><\/p>\n

That you by choice left Zion and your kin
\nBecause the Occupation nullified
\nThe very truths you cherish deep within,
\nYou twice my revelation justified.
\nThis said, I you no less appreciate
\nFor wishing to return once peace is made
\nBetween our peoples \u2013 I as much would hate
\nMy native inclinations to evade.
\nMeanwhile let\u2019s help to keep the dream alive,
\nBy loving one another without qualms;
\nAnd hope that, since for unity we strive,
\nWe\u2019ll be received by all with open arms.
\n++<\/span>No matter where in future I reside,
\n++<\/span>I\u2019d not be there but you were at my side.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           III<\/span><\/p>\n

Before by global warming it takes place,
\nMay London melt in Thames should I allow
\nMy jealous heart to willfully encase
\nYou in our home or bind you to a vow.
\nFor, damn it all, from Sufi roots I stem \u2013
\nThe mystic branch, contemptuous of those
\nWho use Islam in order to condemn
\nSuch souls that don\u2019t in law Allah enclose.
\nSo, when at times the green-eyed monster rears
\nAnd fight I some fell satyr hot for you,
\nPlease hold me tight and with your soothing tears
\nDampen the flames which would love\u2019s fire subdue.
\n++<\/span>When we each other\u2019s fear in part dispel,
\n++<\/span>We help release Earth\u2019s atmosphere from hell.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           IV<\/span><\/p>\n

O Queen of Sheba\u2019s namesake, my Negeest,
\nLike her from south whom Solomon loved best,
\nYou travelled north to Zion in Middle East
\nAnd then, like me, sought refuge in the West.
\nBut here, alas, we need to show those folk
\nWho think the world\u2019s their slavish oyster still
\nThat yellows, browns and blacks have split the yoke
\nWhich bowed them long to white men\u2019s harmful will.
\nYet, gently and with wisdom we should act \u2013
\nFor many now are goaded on by dread;
\nAnd wrong we\u2019d be, unless we heed the fact
\nIt was from fear I, also, lost my head.
\n++<\/span>Like pearls, created out of toil and sand,
\n++<\/span>Let\u2019s charm with light this storm-tossed, royal land.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           V<\/span><\/p>\n

When met we at The Tempest<\/em>, I was dazed
\nBy light that from your eyes was clearly cast;
\nAnd even now I\u2019m constantly amazed
\nHow, with your smile, it freed me from the past.
\nFor I, a lonely Arab, had become \u2013
\nEspecially after Nine-Eleven<\/em> fell \u2013
\nDejected, paranoiac: thus, in sum,
\nImprisoned in a Western kind of hell.
\nI dream you are an angel rising high,
\nWhile men like Lucifer are falling down;
\nYour hue\u2019s your shadow, which you don\u2019t deny
\nAnd won\u2019t project onto a stranger\u2019s frown.
\n++<\/span>When paler humans recognize the black,
\n++<\/span>Within they gain the light they else must lack.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VI<\/span><\/p>\n

I dreamed last night, my dearest love, you were
\nRestorer of poor Hecate\u2019s primal light:
\nAs goddess of the Moon, she\u2019d now confer
\nUpon mankind her matchless second sight.
\nWe then as Eve and Adam swiftly flew,
\nBeneath her beams, to Africa of yore
\nInto the Garden, where at first we knew
\nIntegrity \u2013 since all our traits we bore.
\nO, fair dark lady, you have rescued me
\nFrom blaming every Zionist for my plight:
\nFor never have I heard you make a plea
\nAgainst a guiltless Arab or a white.
\n++<\/span>Those souls that do their natural shadow bear
\n++<\/span>Are they that would this shattered world repair.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VII<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as the radiant Moon has a dark side
\nAnd Earth\u2019s endowed with night, along with day,
\nSo man with shadow Nature\u2019s laws provide,
\nWithout which he as creature couldn\u2019t stay.
\nMoreover, physics tells how energy
\nRequires both positive and counter charge;
\nHow mass itself \u2013 substantiality \u2013
\nDemands that anti-matter be at large.
\nBut fallen man projects onto the whole
\nHis need to separate the opposites:
\nWhat better sign of his divided soul
\nThan he the constituted atom splits!
\n++<\/span>While disconnected minds Creation part,
\n++<\/span>We\u2019ll stay united by the holy heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VIII<\/span><\/p>\n

Before my heart was lit by your jewel-like eyes,
\nThough scared I was indeed to go outdoors,
\nI used to seek with guilt and gloomy sighs
\nRelief from solitude in gaudy whores.
\nYour voice no less now saves me from that fate,
\nAs do those airs you play on harp or flute;
\nLike Caliban, when music eased his hate,
\nI feel transformed: an angel-rendered brute.
\nO siren, Muse, and goddess all in one,
\nIf had you no more talents, these would still
\nOutshine most beings\u2019, but you dance and run
\nWith Salome\u2019s grace and swift Hippolyta\u2019s skill.
\n++<\/span>No wonder drunks from taverns, late at night,
\n++<\/span>Outside our windows cease to swear or fight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           IX<\/span><\/p>\n

When I observe you spin upon your wheel,
\nEmbroider cushions with exquisite flowers,
\nI spy my mother\u2019s village, where, I feel,
\nOnce peace arrives we\u2019ll pass our sweetest hours.
\nI then in pain reality recall,
\nAnd focus on the twins within your womb;
\nRemember how our kindred, one and all,
\nRegard our holy wedlock as a tomb.
\nYet, were full justice done to Palestine \u2013
\nThe Occupation ended, wall destroyed \u2013
\nMy mum, at least, would cease to undermine
\nThe love that has replaced a fearful void.
\n++<\/span>No son\u2019s true mother could reject a girl
\n++<\/span>Whose soul reflects the wholeness of a pearl.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           X<\/span><\/p>\n

By Nablus town, where Ashtoreth held sway,
\nThe fertile earth communes with Moon and Sun;
\nThere lies the house we\u2019ll have when comes the day
\nThat Palestine and Israel are one.
\nI\u2019ll bury pen, then consecrate my time
\nTo tending, safely, vines in our own garden;
\nSing songs of peace with Fatima and Haim,
\nWhile God, now known to all, shall freely pardon.
\nOn rainy, winter afternoons you\u2019ll show
\nThe local maidens how to sew or weave,
\nAs our boy and girl, like cedars, strong will grow \u2013
\nTwo doves, who in the Phoenix can believe.
\n++<\/span>A thousand blessings will embrace that land,
\n++<\/span>Once wisdom, faith and love have made a stand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Jerusalem
\n21 March 2007<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                     I Since first we met at London\u2019s rebuilt Globe, My world has been dissolved and made anew: This Palestinian Jonah crossed with Job Has learnt that love can heal, because of you. Some synchronistic thread or genial star Brought us together, while the wholesome voice And image I had dreamt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2459,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions\/2459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}