Nooj

Between my shadow and my soul

Our Room

Our room is cosy like a square four foot cottage
Hewn into a slumbering cave
With one entrance yet many exits
And they wonder where we come from

Our room has a lush orange carpet
On which we sit cross-legged like maulvis
Searching for truth yet creating fatwas
That refuse to leave when we do

Our room has a roof pregnant with cherry bunches
Each cherry bitter-sweet and tingling
Filled with some intoxicant we have no name for
That leaves us prancing and dizzy

Our room has a neighbour, a middle aged artist
Whose mixture of qur’an verses, old Indian songs
And the santoor sends shivers down our spines
Tomorrow, we sing back, there is always tomorrow

Our room travels in suitcases, in wallets and memory cards
It is where we still sit on walls and throw astros at boys
Or come home late or kill all evil or make everyone happy
It is, wherever we go, we are with me, mon cherie

11 shared ideas:

S October 26, 2008 at 11:47 PM  

This is lovely Nooj. Love the pregnant with cherry bunches:) Makes me imagine a hanging garden in a room.

(PS, I can't seem to delete my last comment, can you delete it?, Thanks.)

Nooj October 26, 2008 at 11:56 PM  

lol all my mum will allow is a cactus and some pebbles in a vase. i do think we need to ask nature to be a part of our caged in culture. the compliment is appreciated :)

i can't delete it either :/??

M Junaid October 27, 2008 at 12:16 AM  

imagery is powerful.
and you threw in a santoor reference :)

this reminds me of Enid Blytons faraway tree - except off course with a muslim twist to it.

second stanza captures so much.

I agree with Dew. It is lovely

Nooj October 27, 2008 at 11:50 AM  

Mj- sami's fingers on the santoor definitely cause shivers
I think the toffee snaps and those honey things that grew too big for ur mouth in Magical Faraway Tree were the inspiration for JK's Honeydukes. One of Enid's most phantasmic works

Az October 27, 2008 at 3:28 PM  

Captivating imagery...I'd like to visit your room myself :)


I want to see the orange carpet, sounds intriguing :D

KiLLa October 27, 2008 at 4:16 PM  

My room looks like a server room. Cold, untidy and full of equipment.

And i have a kewl tv..

Thats about it

( u might find a bed there somewhere also)

word veri - vencelt

Anonymous October 27, 2008 at 9:42 PM  

Nooj I find myself falling in love with your poetry .

MJ - the Farway tree- it made me want to become an author (but then I didn't). It's what my childhood was made of.

Nooj October 27, 2008 at 11:16 PM  

Azra- you can come anytime- just imagine it and it will appear :)

hmmm killa that says a lot about ur brain dominance :P

aw aysh thanks sometimes i wonder if it could be called poetry or just weird random thoughts that have no conncetion or direction but i'm happy u appreciate it. sad that u'll be on call next sat :( maybe get someone to cover for u :P

Saaleha Idrees Bamjee October 28, 2008 at 10:55 AM  

have you been reading Silence of the Lambs lately?
although your rooms seem way more pleasant:)

Nooj October 28, 2008 at 11:15 PM  

saal- nope i didn't even watch the movie. altho i did watch hannibal. now i get to puzzle over the correlation :)

Saaleha Idrees Bamjee October 29, 2008 at 8:00 PM  

It was in one of those conversations with Clarisse, where he spoke about the rooms in his head.
Now I'm not sure in which one I read it, SOTL or Hannibal, was too long ago:(