{"id":3244,"date":"2024-05-03T16:40:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?p=3244"},"modified":"2025-04-21T20:38:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T12:38:25","slug":"four-poems-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/four-poems-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Four poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jahara A. Solaiman<\/em><\/p>\n

Ramadhan in Gaza<\/strong><\/p>\n

A crust of bread for them,
\nAlready a blessing,
\n<\/span>While we,
\nWith our ingratitude,
\nWhine of the plenty
\nThat is our iftar spread.<\/p>\n

The sunset Adhan of Maghrib
\nA reminder
\nOf having made it through
\nYet another day.
\nTo us, just a signal that
\nTo eat, we may.<\/p>\n

Their Taraweeh,
\nPrayed in the open
\nOn the hard earth,
\nAmidst the rubble
\nAnd the rumble
\nOf an explosion unexpected,
\nWhile we on full stomachs
\nWait to roll up the mat
\nAnd head home.<\/p>\n

Them,
\nAware that,
\nTo fast another day
\nThey might not,
\nNor sight
\nThe crescent moon
\nHeralding the Eid,
\nNor have their kin
\nTo celebrate with.<\/p>\n

They,
\nWith their tribulations
\nSpanning the years.
\nMay Heaven be the reward
\nFor their tears!<\/p>\n

A Grocery Shopper’s Thoughts on Grief<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grief comes
\nConsumed in cups
\nSometimes in spoonfuls
\nBut otherwise,
\nNo exact serving size.<\/p>\n

It comes packed in boxes
\nOr in jars and cans
\nTightly sealed, yet
\nReady to be opened
\nAt a moment’s notice.<\/p>\n

The ingredients are a mix
\nOf mostly tears,
\nA smidgeon of hurt and regret
\nOr a dash\u00a0 of memories
\nThat leave a bitter aftertaste.<\/p>\n

Always in stock,
\nLife’s store shelves
\nAre full of it
\nReady for either the frugal shopper
\nOr the impulse buyer’s taking.<\/p>\n

Grief comes in
\nIn a variety of packaging,
\nAnd a hefty price tag,
\nBut no “Consume Before” date on the label<\/p>\n

So Sanggibo a Ranon a Piyatay\u00a0 o Satiman a Tadman
\n<\/em><\/strong>(A Thousand Good Memories<\/strong> Destroyed by A Single Mistake<\/strong>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Treasured memories
\nAre a-plenty.
\nIn the thousands,
\nMore maybe.
\nOverflowing the heart
\nTill they were
\nWhat it only knew..<\/p>\n

But it only took
\nJust one mistake,
\nA careless word
\nA mindless deed
\nA single blow
\nTo painfully shred
\nA whole,
\nDelicately pieced together.<\/p>\n

Such is human nature.
\nOne misdeed
\nMakes a stranger out
\nOf those thousand joys.<\/p>\n

Ode to the Marawi Fog<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hand in hand
\nThe fog and cold go
\nLike lovers at the promenade
\nOn a winter morning stroll.<\/p>\n

Oblivious to the shivering throng,
\nThe pair smother all creation
\nNonchalantly,
\nWith the misty cocoon
\nOf snappish cold.
\nA veneer of glossy damp
\nairily drifting.
\nThe sun must have been sent away,
\nFor this pair to bask
\nIn their icy honeymoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jahara A. Solaiman Ramadhan in Gaza A crust of bread for them, Already a blessing, While we, With our ingratitude, Whine of the plenty That is our iftar spread. The sunset Adhan of Maghrib A reminder Of having made it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3245,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244\/revisions\/3245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}