MellowBird

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Posts posted by MellowBird

  1. Posted

    In case you aren't familiar with the Love Inshallah book stories:

     

    http://loveinshallah.com/ this is their site. warsan shire, the somali poet, has been recently featured on there.

     

    it's a very interesting collection of stories told through the perspective of women, who share the identity of being muslim, on love, marriage, intimacy and all that is in between. it's an eye opening experience.

     

    the reason i'm posting, is that now they are trying to get the male perspective as well. and if there are muslim men around who have something of value to share in this theme - contribute. you can stay annonymous or use a different name, whatever.

     

    it is nice to know that the human experience, while it can feel isolating, is shared by all.

     

     

    http://loveinshallah.com/2013/01/15/call-for-stories-muslim-men-on-love-sex-intimacy/

     

     

     

    CALL FOR STORIES: Muslim Men on Love, Sex & Intimacy

     

    You heard from the ladies in Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women, now it’s time to hear from the men! Announcing a call for non-fiction, personal stories by American Muslim men on love & loss, sex & intimacy for publication in 2013.

     

    Submission deadline: March 4, 2013



     

    WHY MUSLIM MEN?

     

    For every stereotype about Muslim women, there are as many about Muslim men, lacking nuance, reflection or celebration. The search for romantic love impacts men’s lives deeply and yet there is little space for men to address these issues, share their experiences, or feel less isolated when it comes to affairs of the heart.

     

    In the wake of Love InshAllah’s global success and growing recognition in both the American and Muslim communities of the need to address the critical role of love, sex and relationships in men’s lives, it is the right time for Muslim men to share their intimate insights.

     

    SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

     

    Stories must be autobiographical and written by men who identify as both American and Muslim. We are looking for contributors who reflect a broad range of religious practice and perspectives, from orthodox to cultural to secular.

     

    Write about a transformative episode that defined your dating/relationship/marital experience. Did factors such as religion, ethnicity, race, class, family, etc., play a role in your story? We want compelling real-life storytelling and dialogue, not essay-like commentary.

     

    We prefer that authors write under their real names, but recognize that some topics – including (but not limited to) sex, divorce, abuse, emotional/physical infidelity, sexual orientation, polygamy, mutah, etc. – are sensitive, so we are accepting a limited number of submissions under pen names.

     

    DIVERSITY

     

    Contributions are welcome from American Muslim men of all racial, ethnic, sectarian backgrounds, sexual orientation, ages, born and convert Muslims, disabled, single, engaged, married, divorced, or widowed.

     

    DETAILS

     

    Submissions should be between 1,500 – 4,000 words, double-spaced and paginated. Please send your submission as a Microsoft Word document attachment to stories@loveinshallah.com

  2. Posted

    Could Have

    --Wislawa Szymborska,

     

    It could have happened.

    It had to happen.

    It happened earlier. Later.

    Nearer. Farther off.

    It happened, but not to you.

     

    You were saved because you were the first.

    You were saved because you were the last.

    Alone. With others.

    On the right. The left.

    Because it was raining. Because of the shade.

    Because the day was sunny.

     

    You were in luck -- there was a forest.

    You were in luck -- there were no trees.

    You were in luck -- a rake, a hook, a beam, a brake,

    A jamb, a turn, a quarter-inch, an instant . . .

     

    So you're here? Still dizzy from

    another dodge, close shave, reprieve?

    One hole in the net and you slipped through?

    I couldn't be more shocked or

    speechless.

    Listen,

    how your heart pounds inside me.

  3. Posted

    Tillamook;874476 wrote:
    i carry your heart with me(i carry it in)
    By E. E. Cummings

     

    i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

    my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

    i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

    by only me is your doing,my darling)

    i fear

    no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

    no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

    and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

    and whatever a sun will always sing is you

     

    here is the deepest secret nobody knows

    (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

    and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

    higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

    and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

     

    i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

     

    i LOVE this poem! and this song.

     

     

    "George Strait - Carrying Your Love With Me"

  4. Posted

    Romantic Moment

     

    After seeing the documentary we walk down Canyon Road,

    Into the plaza of art galleries and high end clothing stores

     

    Where the mock orange is fragrant in the summer light

    And the smooth adobe walls glow fleshlike in the dark.

     

    It is just our second date, and we sit down on a bench,

    Holding hands, not looking at each other,

     

    And if I were a bull penguin right now I would lean over

    And vomit softly into the mouth of my beloved

     

    And if I were a peacock I’d flex my gluteal muscles to

    Erect and spread the quills of my cinemax tail.

     

    If she were a female walkingstick bug she might

    Insert her hypodermic probiscus directly into my neck

     

    And inject me with a rich hormonal sedative

    Before attaching her egg sac to my thoracic undercarriage,

     

    And if I were a young chimpanzee I would break off a nearby treelimb

    And smash all the windows in the plaza jewelry stores.

     

    And if she was a Brazilian leopardfrog she would wrap her impressive

    Tongue three times around my right thigh and

     

    Pummel me softly against the surface of our pond

    And I would know her feelings were sincere.

     

    Instead we sit awhile in silence, until

    She remarks that in the relative context of tortoises and igunanas,

     

    Human males seem to be actually rather expressive

    And I say that female crocodiles really don’t receive

     

    Enough credit for their gentleness,

    Then she suggests that it is time for us to go

     

    To get some ice cream cones and eat them.

     

     

    (watch reading here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/315 )

  6. Posted

    Either Or

    BY NICK LANTZ

    “He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.”

    —Donald Rumsfeld

     

    You haven’t heard

    from your father

    in six months

    and you can’t

    bring yourself

    to call. In Bengal,

    farmers wore

    masks on the backs

    of their heads

    to ward off tigers,

    who, one supposes,

    wouldn’t attack

    a man who was

    watching. If I don’t

    call, you thought,

    nothing is wrong.

    Each possibility is

    a cavern eaten

    out of limestone

    by water. Naming

    everything is a way

    of naming nothing.

    His family dropped

    away like cicada

    husks swept off

    tree trunks by rain.

    One brother, heart

    attack. His father’s

    two feet taken

    by diabetes, then

    his father by stroke.

    In a tornado, leave

    your windows ajar.

    A doorway for

    an earthquake.

    In a lightning storm,

    do not pick up

    the phone. Learn

    to see out the back

    of your head. His

    youngest brother,

    weeks dead before

    discovery: the couch

    where he died,

    face down, shadow

    of rotted flesh

    stained into fabric,

    ghost of a face.

    Imagination kills

    the living just

    as easily as it brings

    back the dead.

    In Turkey, they hang

    the nazar—teardrop

    of blue glass—

    on lintels, above

    beds, from the rearview

    mirror. To ward

    off evil, they say.

     

     

     

    ( http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/240424)

  7. Posted

    The Imagined

     

    -by stephen dunn

     

     

     

    If the imagined woman makes the real woman

    seem bare-boned, hardly existent, lacking in

    gracefullness and intellect and pulchritude,

    and if you come to realize the imagined woman

    can only satisfy your imagination, whereas

    the real woman with all her limitations

    can often make you feel good, how, in spite

    of knowing this, does the imagined woman

    keep getting into your bedroom, and joining you

    at dinner, why is it that you always bring her along

    on vacations when the real woman is shopping,

    or figuring the best way to the museum?

     

    And if the real woman

     

    has an imagined man, as she must, someone

    probably with her at this very moment, in fact

    doing and saying everything she's ever wanted,

    would you want to know that she slips in

    to her life every day from a secret doorway

    she's made for him, that he's present even when

    you're eating your omelette at breakfast,

    or do you prefer how she goes about the house

    as she does, as if there were just the two of you?

    Isn't her silence, finally, loving? And yours

    not entirely self-serving? Hasn't the time come,

     

    once again, not to talk about it?

     

     

     

  9. Posted

    If you want a very quick take on how important this article may be to your future happiness and success as a man, honestly assess your reaction to its title.

     

    What did you feel? Were you aghast? Did it offend you? Did it piss you off? Are you utterly confused? If you’re this guy, you DESPERATELY need the wisdom found below.

     

    Were you intrigued by the title? Did it resonate with you for some unknown reason? Did it make you smile? If you’re this guy, you also DESPERATELY need this wisdom. The difference is, it may be much easier for you to take action.

     

    And if it turns out that you have already taken this courageous action, terrific. You’re now in a mature relationship with your mother. Good for you, and for those around you.

     

    If you other good (or not so good) little boys want to feel what it’s like to be a real man, a real man in your relationship with your mother—and ultimately, a real man in your relationship with a significant other—then pay close attention. If you follow the advice you’re about to receive, you will never be the same. And that’ll be a good thing!

     

     

    http://artofmanliness.com/2011/01/12/blow-up-your-relationship-with-your-mother-and-get-one-step-closer-to-being-the-man-you-want-to-be/

  25. Posted

    Uncouplings

    by Craig Arnold

     

    There is no I in teamwork

    but there is a two maker

     

     

    there is no I in together

    but there is a got three

    a get to her

     

     

    the I in relationship

    is the heart I slip on

    a lithe prison

     

     

    in all communication

    we count on a mimic

    (I am not uncomic)

     

     

    our listening skills

    are silent killings

     

     

    there is no we in marriage

    but a grim area

     

     

    there is an I in family

    also my fail