Ali Fatolahi's Short Writings

Communicate ...

2012-01-31T05:55:00.000-08:00

I start working before the sun rises

long before children begin gamboling

when I go out early morning

I think a lot about my ancestors

the ice age must have looked like Ottawa in winter

kudos to those who survived

andthose who died of hunger

andthose who ended up being animals

as if they had all been gambling with their lives

only some won their lives back, we call them animals

and some, that’s us, won others’ lives too!

My girl sees writing as a waste of time

but I regenerate the wasted times

where notime machine can go

and like no elixir would do

I finish working after the sun sets

my kids like reading their own bed-time story

Communication!

a very sapient thing we did

whichsaved us during the freezing era

andhelped us evolving indeed.

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan 31^st 2012,Ottawa

trader

2012-01-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

A cook’s tour around your curves

and I knew myhand

is no Poloto leave you …

a look into your eyes

and I knew youriris

is sure Razi to distill me …

a sip of your elixir

and Iknew the night

ismy road to your silky hair

…

and if you be mytour guide

I might as well

trademy streak of iron

for your flesh of gold.

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan 30^th 2012,Ottawa

Loving my weaknesses …

2012-01-29T08:48:00.001-08:00

Just had a cook’s tour around the neighborhood

kids are fun and I love them

butthey gave me lots of trouble

snow, soil, water and ice

were all mixed

with no brightline.

When I was a kid

I dove deep in some frosty mud

thatkind of looked like a pile of snow

I loved my dad but he gave me a hard time

andI still love him anyway.

Rain drops and snow crystals

might be perfectwhile descending

but on the earth

we’reall mixed

we’re all imperfect …

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan 29^th 2012,Ottawa

the night before ...

2012-01-27T04:03:00.000-08:00

After a nightof passion

when I wake up at five

my head ishot

and my body is swayingly heavy

it’s like I’vebeen fired from an arbalest

and have hit a fortress

I feel like anewborn

wondering whyto leave mom’s cozy warm water

but as freezingrain drops needle on my face

and wash my sleepinessaway

right before I become a workaholic

I shouldn’t beloath to confess

that I’ll be missing youat work today!

misspent

2012-01-26T04:05:00.001-08:00

Where unitsof time live,

calendarscount human beings

judgingus for the time

we had to span

They weren’table to forgive

-and I was loath to admit -

thatI had wasted time beings

sothey intercalated me

as a lavishedman!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-26-2012, Ottawa

Syriagedy

2012-01-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

intercalatinga red spot

for every kidkilled around the globe …

Yesterday Basharkilled another Syrian child

the Arableague was really sad to hear that

and they were very sorry indeed

and I’ve hadmy calendar with me on the bus

everyday addingmore crimson drops on the go

asmy notes are about to bleed

today I lostthe track of carmine

once realizedI’d miss my stop

and when I lookedat my calendar again

it was allcontaminated by blood

ah,I wish I could end this screed!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-25-2012, Ottawa

same or different

2012-01-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

we all behave similarly in a party

- well at least those who drink beer –

We buy beer and we pay the same tax

we pour it in glass and it makes the same foam

then we drink it using our similar mouths

And once drunk

We hug everyone around: “Oh, Darling!”

- or something to that effect -

and we pee at the end

with pretty much the same color and smell

do you really see a difference?

isn’t it all fun and hearty?

ok maybe some pay a more or less tax

or some might talk a different accent

when chatting with the beer store guy

but how BIG does that sound to you?

Hope and I

2012-01-24T04:20:00.001-08:00

hope is a wildbuddy living inside me

anything hurtingme worsens hope too

when a yegg robsor a virus contaminates

none killshope but makes it suffer

as if I’mborn with a life-time supply of hope

I’d live ahappy life if hope and I die together

if I diesooner, I’d regret a wasted hope

if hope endsfaster, I’d live a wasted life

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-24-2012, Ottawa

Neda

2012-01-23T06:13:00.000-08:00

Isn’t it so leonine

to walk amongyeggs

andpathetic thugs

withbursting smile

as blossomingcherries?

She died as a heroine

donating hereyes

asliberty drugs

invitingeveryone

ona trip to Antares!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-23-2012, Ottawa

Being selfish on a Sunday morning …

2012-01-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

My poems are more often

selfisharticulations

ofmy weltschmerz

people say a man should be leonine

hiding emotions cause that’s feminine

But I’m a human not a lion

Ihave frustrations

andI can be fierce

l can act as a shameless lion in bed

with no fear of having feelings spread

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-22-2012, Ottawa

a lot happier nowadays

2012-01-20T04:34:00.000-08:00

Darling!

you think our ancestors have lived a happier life

with no technology, stress or strife?

But wouldn’t Avicenna be a much happier physician

if histools weren’t so fustian

andhe didn’t have to wrap a lot of corpses in fustian?

And wouldn’t HélèneCampbell’s life be a bit bitter

with nofacebook, youtube and twitter

to spread her amazing face andbecome a hitter?

so let’s talkabout it later again

once Iregistered to donate organ …

and we’re safely walking down Carling.

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-20-2012, Ottawa

a brother’s letter …

2012-01-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

life is no junket

I can only eat somejunk and yet

that’s enough to get me going …

here’s what it says on a frosty window this morning:

“payyour mortgage

free Congo

legalize marijuana”

o brother! gods are long dead

and no prophet has ever made bread

to wake a politician at 5 in -20, there’s no manna

UN is no healthier than a pack of mango

andI still don’t have a home up to this age

I betterembrace this snow pellet

and make love to my fustian blanket

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-19-2012, Ottawa

life-giving love: a re-write

2012-01-18T04:51:00.001-08:00

while on a junket, afluffy snowflake

fell in love with a lake on earth

- gently flirting with the view -

and to flaunt its coquetry

it played along with every wind

while having fun withevery shake

love was covering around the girth

-smoothly as frozen droplets -

quietlyuntil it hit a rock

sudden and rough as a graupel

it flew apart andmerged the lake!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-18-2012, Ottawa

life-giving love

2012-01-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

a fluffy snowflakebefore gloam

fell and fell in love with the earth

- smoothly flirting with the view -

and to flaunt its coquetry

played along with every wind

ostensibly it enjoyedthe roam ...

but love was coating around its girth

-slowly as frozen droplets -

obscureuntil it hit a rock

sudden and rough as a graupel

it tore apart and mergedthe loam!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-17-2012, Ottawa

Just another confused dwarf …

2012-01-16T06:12:00.001-08:00

A January morning in Ottawa …

Ostensibly, I’m a happy dwarf

living ina music box

- playing The Golden Dreams

over and over -

flourished with xylography of

snowcrystals …

But actually it’s a -40 morning …

I’m in an OCTranspo shelter

left homefor work

rememberingmy broken ideals

here and there

the glasswalls are covered

with frozen air

nothing is seeable

let alone foreseeable …

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-15-2012, Ottawa

Natural Inquire

2012-01-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

Once upon a xylography session,

the blockturned to the lint:

“everbeen to a crucible?”

it kept asking the same question

after everysingle print

untilit was put in the inkwell

which cooled down its obsession …

but itwas made out of flint

andwould ask for fire again!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-15-2012, Ottawa

Love Lava

2012-01-14T18:28:00.001-08:00

Love is a hot thing

and some are cold as metal,

not able to thole

and don’t have the mettle;

given too much love,

will melt as if in crucible,

they’ll flow away

and that’s not reducible!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-14-2012, Ottawa

Fear-Full Bravery

2012-01-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

When I write a new poem

I get all my pains to enroll;

and towrite about my fear

can I behonest enough?

ok, I shouldbe valorous;

- huh?!freaks me out! -

as a poet, mygreatest fear

is to know mymuse is tough

or doesn’tlike poetry I guess!

- breaks myheart, no doubt –

it’s a pain hard to thole

even with a full jeroboam!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-13-2012, Ottawa

bravery, irony and regret ...

2012-01-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

happy to show such a valorous face :)

so I wanted tosay this boldly

kudos to me towake up at five

and take thebus when it’s -20

I walk to stationnot even drive

early morningbuses are not plenty

and people tend to act coldly …

Ah, I could be in your warm embrace :(

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-12-2012, Ottawa

sweet-heart

2012-01-11T04:18:00.001-08:00

I deserve kudos

foryou’re my sweetheart

but even that

I defer to you

and in return

let me just suck

all the glucose

outof your sweet heart!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-11-2012, Ottawa

An interest-free love affair …

2012-01-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

Today is another day of work

Iteach logic and I love my work

sothe night before, I should have taken some rest.

But I love you more …

So, I became spendthrift last night

to spareevery single moment of the night

feelingyour silky hair slept on my chest.

I should defer this poem

to all your amazement

I had a chance to explore …

Alas, I have to get back to my duties

or Icould keep writing of your beauties

aslong as a Canadian winter night could nest.

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-10-2012,Ottawa

Time is money!

2012-01-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

scrooge orspendthrift

- mordant I find itor constructive -

the next dollar is mine

only if I’m able to succeed

living the next moment through.

- in a positive wayor adrift -

I’m simply not guaranteed

to have that moment anew.

- AliFatolahi, Jan-09-2012, Ottawa

this very instant ...

2012-01-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

Book of life

has been full of typos

and the tome of gods

has been full of lies.

When I read the past

life has always been discordant

and I’m afraid future

is not gonna be less mordant.

Let’s cheer up thepresent

and pray to a glass of wine

- as Persian poetswill do -

five times a day

fromdawn to evening,

- after all I wasborn Muslim ;) –

- but do I not liveamong Christians? –

add an extra glass

everySunday morning.

- AliFatolahi, Jan-08-2012, Ottawa

forgetfully happy

2012-01-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

close to end anothertome of the life?

send all the sad memories

to a calaboose

past the hippocampus,

take a note of the happymemo-reads

a few more pages …

and you’regood to go!

- Ali Fatolahi, Jan-07-2012,Ottawa

a place to write

2012-01-06T04:14:00.000-08:00

they put me in acalaboose

for naming ‘em by what they do

- not even an epithet –

what they do is but theirs through

following ‘em as acaboose!

- AliFatolahi, Jan-06-2012, Ottawa

non-enigma

2012-01-05T04:59:00.000-08:00

You call some humans ANIMALas an epithet

just because they think

in a different way!

But hey, all of us

even those who cannot think

come from the same soul;

we’re all ANIMAs

at the end of the day!

- AliFatolahi, Jan-05-2012, Ottawa

Little Ken

2011-06-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

With my son, Mani, who's 5.5, we had a brief rhyming session before he goes to bed tonight and here’s what we ended up with:

Little Ken,

who was only ten,

drew a hen

with his pen.

He sat then

in the form of Zen

and thought again and again;

among all men

and all women

he drew a girl named Jen

to take care of the hen.

Little Ken

went to bed then

because it was almost ten!

Today, Ottawa is ...

2011-04-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

My azure gaze is like the sky

Calm water in sunlight.
That's it, blue and calm
for nothing bugs or scares it...

- Fernando Pessoa, Erin Mouré

left for Persia

2011-04-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

Quit talking to me about Nature!

Plants are my sisters;
I have a fountain pen, I know a saint
who left years ago for Persia ...

Cut it out and come to the table!
...

- Fernando Pessoa, Erin Mouré

Beings be ...

2011-04-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

"He says, for instance, that beings sing to his glory,

But beings aren't singing at all.
If they sang, they'd be singers.
Beings be and that's it,
That's why they're called beings."

- Fernando Pessoa, Erin Mouré

en-tangled alone

2011-04-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

A Persian writer once wrote:

nothing is more melancholic
than a lonely man listening to an old gramophone.

I don't know about that quote

but today it was heartsick
seeing a young woman watching the Tangled alone.

- Ali Fatolahi, Ottawa, April/3/2011

we're godless

2011-04-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thinking about God is just contumacious,

Because none of us are meant to know what face God has,

And, as such, we're godless …

- Fernando Pessoa, Erin Mouré