The Poetry of Angels

The cover of my fifth collection of poems " The awakening of Fire and Jasmine"

2010-01-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

The back cover......

The rest of the poemL pubished in AL Jomhoria and AL'alam newspapre

2009-10-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

A poem written by Ibaa Ismail

2009-10-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

The Pulse of Michigan- poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2009-04-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Pulse of Michigan

Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

When the robin flies high,
it caresses the sky of creativity
and rests on the white pine tree,
singing its eternal song
in all the languages of the world,
where everyday is a diverse festival
of man
the melody blends
with the voices of artists and poets.

The robin's colorful feathers scatter
and mix with the ethnic hues
of history and humanity.
The brushes of artists
and the poems of the angelic snow
rest on the earth's warmth.

One man after another finds his soul
illuminating with philanthropy, creativity, and prosperity
when the robin rests on each window at dawn
giving him the freedom from its wings--
the keys of peace
and new hope
to embrace humanity
away from war.

An Arab American newspaper Forum & Link interview

2009-04-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Two Arab American poets meet Jibran Khalil Jibran & Ibaa Ismail!

2009-04-03T08:16:00.001-07:00

Appreciation certificate from World Arab Translators' Association

2009-04-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

2009-04-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

My article published in an Arab American newspaper AL-Itidal

2009-04-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Iraqi writer Nash'at Mandwee comments on my poetry

2009-04-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Arab American Writers' meeting in Detroit

2009-04-01T14:34:00.001-07:00

My poem The Bird of the Spirit published in Tishreen newspaper in 1985

2009-04-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

In Tishreen Newspaper 1985

2009-04-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Symphony of Roses- poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2009-04-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Symphony of Roses
Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

A hope is flying in the space of love
as stars exhale the glitter from the water of its spirit
and pour it in two hearts..
And the fingers of roses pour their light
To soliloquize their adore to a spike.
Venus dwells in the sky of a tender affection
in the latitude of a kiss and two shivers

You and I are two visions,
blossoming dew and radiating in two exiles.
Is it because we are two birds flying in the horizon of our echoes
and folding our springy wings
like anthems of lure?
Or because we are two fruits
Flourishing in the moaning of the earth
and searching for our peaceful existence?

Is the nature in our blood
Or we are the nature?!
We are the children of fertility.
We are the flowers of life.
If we sewed its strings fancy,
our progeny chants jewels and music,
and we flourish auroras in the breath of light.

2009-03-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

The Light of My Nation

2009-03-31T18:02:00.001-07:00

Interview

2009-03-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

Songs of the Soul

2009-03-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

Horses of Light and Alienation

2009-03-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Flames of an Emigrant

2009-03-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

2009-03-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

A brief critical review on your poetry -By: Sherif Okasha

2007-09-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

A brief critical review on your poetry
Written by: Sherif Okasha - Egypt

May I send a honey-dewed morrow greeting to the one who wrote the most marvelous poem I’ve ever read. Actually I read your poem "The glittering of the shiver" in English and Arabic several times and each time a sweet ,unique, elevated ,indescribable shivering glitter creeps into my soul. Your poetry is glamorous both aesthetically and technically. If you don’t mind, I allow myself here to make a brief critical review of your poetic talent. First of all, I appreciate the fact that you write your poetry in Arabic and back translate it into English. All research in cognitive psychology asserts that our imagery is most profoundly formed in our native language because as you of course are aware our feelings, imagination..Etc are affected by our culture of which language is a subpart. So the back translation, once done effortful and accurately, as yours was, will definitely convey the original "tangle" of thoughts that got enmeshed in the native linguistic mind of the poet (this is not! of course to say that one cannot write original poetry in his/her second language).

Second, your imagery proves my theory about the ideal image: The best imagery is formed by establishing a direct link between the inner world and the real, concrete world without the mediating agent of language. So fertile imagination will be the product of establishing a link ,not between the traditional "figurative" level and our perceptions ,but between our perceptions and the real world. Your vivid images clearly demonstrate this faculty of yours.

I hope I have not bored you with this rather academic discussion of your extremely promising poetic flair. As for me, I’m a linguist by vocation, literary translator and writer by avocation! Thanks so much for your comment on my blog. Did you really find my translation of Nizar interesting?. It is my own translation. I did it about 12 years ago in my last university year. It was my habit since that time to translate great Arabic lyrics into English, but due to a general lack of interest among Arab readers and publishers thereof, I gave up the whole thing. Really your comment encouraged me to resume again, if a poetic connoisseur like you will care to read such translations. Sorry for the long email, I’ll follow closely your poetic creations and I hope y always notify me thereof. I have some shy attempts at writing English poetry, which you will find at: Egyptianbloggers.blogspot.com

I'll be happy for further exchanges and comments in the future
Best Luck
Sherif Okasha – Egypt

Twins of poem - written and translated by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Twins of poems
By: Ibaa Ismail

إثنان في قصائد

شعر إباء اسماعيل
قمران

قمران يشتعلانِ
في حضن الغيومِ
كنبضة ولْهى
جريئةْ......
في الشعر يغتسلان من تعبٍ
وفي قلبيهما،
تشدو نبوءةْ......

Two moons

Two moons blaze
in the lap of clouds
like a fascinated, daring pulse.
They wash their exhaustion with poetry
and in their heart,
A prophecy chants!

سؤالان

كيف اخترقتْ قدماكَ
خمسة عشر صخرةً
وجدارْ.......
وسكنت دمي وقصائدي ؟!........
كيف قطعتِ خمس عشرة كوكباً
ونثرتِ آهاتَكِ
على شموسه الملتهبةْ؟!

Two questions

How could your feet,
pass through fifteen rocks and walls
and reside in my poems and blood?
How could you cross fifteen planets
and scatter your sighs,
over his burning suns?

صورتان

صفحةٌ من خيالْ
عكستْ صورتينِ
ومرآةَ حبٍّ
بهيِّ الكمالْ............
وتعانقت الصورتانِ
كأنهما كوكبٌ داخلٌ
في شظايا هلالْ !.....

Two Images

A page of imagination
reflected two images
and a mirror of love
that is a perfect splendor.
The two images embraced
as if they were a planet
passing through
the fragments of a crescent!

فراشتان

فراشتكِ الناريةُ
تنشر جناحيها اللهبْ.....
وثمار جسدها تنمو
كزنا بق الغيمِ
وتهبط فوق نهر الصخبْ
وهو يمخر عباب ضفّتين ْ
وفراشتُك الناريةُ تهمي
كأنها روحٌ وجسد ٌ
يموجانِ في سماء السنينْ ........

Two butterflies

Your fiery butterfly spreads
its flaming wings
and the blossom of its body flourishes
like the lilies of the clouds.
And he plows the torrent of two banks,
and your fiery butterfly flows
as if it is a spirit and a body
soaring in the sky of years!

طفلان

كانا باقةََََََ أسماك سحريّةْ
تزهر في حضنِ الأزهارْ......
عِلماً أنّ النار،
ترسل في الفجر فراشاتٍ
بحريًةْ
كانا طفلين ِ وحلماً وسحابْ
عِلماً أن الشعرَ هو الحلمُ
وأنّهما كنزٌ لا يفنى فيه الشعرُ
ولا يفنى فيه الأحبابْ........
فاشتعلت أنفاسهما أسئلةً
في قاع الحريّهْ ........

Two Children

They were a bouquet of magic fish,
blossoming in the lap of flowers.
Though the fire sends navy butterflies
at dawn.
There were two children, a dream and a cloud
where poetry is a dream
and they were the treasure
where poetry never decays
and lovers never fade away.
Their breath ignited questions,
emanating from the inner depth of freedom!

Music- poem for children- by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-30T03:21:00.000-07:00

Music

Poem for children by: Ibaa Ismail

This music is a light,
Shining in the senses of a man.
It fascinated us in all ages
All languages of the world know it.
And all nations know it.
Try to hear it
Try to listen to it:
Do do sol sol
La la sol
Fa fa mi mi
Re re do
Repeat it, repeat it
And learn
Try to compose some words
Sing sing children sing
Be the voice of a life
Be the dawn of a hope
This music is a light,
shining in the senses of a man.

From my collection of poems: "The Light of my Nation"

Here is the original poem in Arabic:

موسيقا

قصيدة للأطفال
شعر: إباء اسماعيل

هذي الموسيقا نورٌ
يتلألأ في حس الإنسان
تسحَرنا في كل الأزمان
ولغاتُ العالم تعرفها
تعرفها كل الأوطان ...
حاوِل أن تسمع :
حاوِل أن تقرأ:
دو دو ، صول صول
لا لا، صول...
فا فا ، مي مي
ري ري دو...
فا فا، مي مي
ري ري دو...
دو دو صول صول

لا لا صول...
كرِّر ... كرِّرْها وتَعلَّم
جرِّب أن تضعَ الكلماتْ
غنوا ... غنوا يا أطفال
كونوا صوتاً للأجيال
كونوا فجراً للآمال
هذي الموسيقا نورٌ
يتلألأ في حس الانسان ....
ـــــــــــــــ
من ديوان ضوء بلادي

The Glittering of the Shiver- poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

~The Glittering of the Shiver~
poem by: Ibaa Ismail

Distances turned me into a shiver,
glittering in the shores of your blood.
I flap my wings a butterfly in your space,
wearing your green stars,
and scattering a cloud in the sky of your soul.
Oh you:
Burning in the rays of my dreams,
In the tempest of my madness,
hide the jewel of your love,
in the cliffs of my body.
Washing with the fragrance of the night,
The spikes of my spirit, growing,
and hugging the distant star.
Oh stars of love:
sparkle in my cells!
A wind of dew and light,
a jewel enlights the road of my soul.
The fire of the sky:
Exhale his spirit in the waves of mine.
Here is the nectar of our life,
Percolates tears of fire,
and anguish of departure!
Seas without shores,
collide in my blood.
I spatter the flowers of my dreams
in the arteries of distances.
I chant the song of love,
To the shores of your spirit,
and I mix my tears,
with the springs of your light.
The wave of longing is a spring child
I inhale its nectar,
getting lost in your horizon.

Translated from my collection of poems
(Horses of Light and Alienation)
Here is the original poem in Arabic:

رعشة النور
شعر: إباء اسماعيل
تجبلني المسافات ارتعاشةً
تضيء
في شواطىء دمك
أصير فراشةً في فضائكَ
أرتدي نجومك الخضراءَ
و أتناثرُ غيمةً في سماءِ روحكَ
يا أنتَ
أيُّها الملتهبُ في شموسِ أحلامي
في عصف جنوني
خبِّىء جوهرةَ عشقكَ
في تضاريس جسدي
إغتسلْ بعطر الليل
تكبر سنابل روحي
و تعانق النجم البعيدْ
يا نجوم الحبَّ : ابرقي في خلاياي
عاصفةً من ندى و نور
جوهرةً تضيءُ طرقات عمري
يا جمرة السماءْ : انفحي روحه
في أمواج روحي!
هوذا رحيق العمر دمعة
من حريق
و حرقة من سفرْ
بحارٌ بلا شواطئ
تسبحُ في دمي
أفرش أزهار أحلامي
في شرايين المدى
أرتِّلُ أغنية الحبِّ
في مئذنة روحكَ
و أمزجُ دموعي بينابيع النور
موجة الشوق طفلةٌ ربيعيّة
أقطفُ رحيقها
وأتبعثرُ في مداكْ

The Flame Child - Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

~The Flame Child~
Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

Who would sing for a sparrow
nesting over the wound of the
palm trees?
Who would sing the assassinated
palm trees?
Who would deliver these olive branches
of their wounds
or stop their tears,
or hear their agonies under the
silent sky?
I don’t have the dreams, the
colors of roses;
For my flowers, my roses
do not dream anymore.
I don’t have the strings for
a dress…
In vain, my life bleeds under
the barren sky.
My body was cut to bread and
meat to feed the tattered, the
lost, the filth of some hyenas
who were named as men, the
guardians of evil.
* * *
I came to you
with glory and eagerness.
Yet, my heart is crying for years
over the nation of sadness.
I am your voice;
I am your sorrow;
I am what will remain
of the roots of your glare,
under the moaning of the stars.
* * *
From my blood, ascending
like the sun,
under the sting of an inferno.
I sing your pain.
Our parents out there waiting
for the roars of horses and
the earthquakes,
in the latitude of our captured voice?!

I came to you as a hopeless child,
killed without a prayer
and buried with the nation’s
April wheat spikes!..
How could my childhood’s soul
awaken to ignite some flames,
to spread its white peaceful wings,
over the endless sky?!
How could I ignite your consciences
with the tears of my blood?
How could I share with you,
the tears of flowers, of vanity, of sadness,
like a blossom
or an uproar?!
How can my spirit release its pollens
to raise in the horizon a song of anger
and peace?

Ibaa Ismail
Translated from my collection of poems “Songs of the Soul”

Here is the original poem in Arabic:

طفلة اللهب
شعر: إباء اسماعيل
ـ (إلى أطفال العراق) ـ‏
مَنْ يُغنّي لعْصفورةٍ،‏
فوقَ جرْحِ النخيلْ؟!....‏
مَنْ يُغنّي النخيلَ القتيلْ؟!....‏
ليس عندي زهورُ السماءْ‏
ليس عندي خيوطُ الرداءْ‏
عبثاً ينْزفُ العمْرُ أنوارهُ،‏
في العراءْ!...‏
جسدي صار خبْزاً ولحْماً،‏
لجوفِ الغريبِ....‏
وحرّاسهِ الأوْصياءْ!!...‏
*** ‏
جئتكمْ كالمدى والحنينْ....‏
إنَّ قلْبي على وطنِ الحزْنِ‏
يبْكي السّنينْ....‏
فادخلوا في دمي ورْدةً‏
واخرجوا من جذوري،‏
إلى قمّةِ الياسمينْ!...‏
*** ‏
منْ دمي المتصاعد شمْساً،‏
أُغنّي لكمْ ألمي،‏
تحت لسْعِ السّعيرْ....‏
يا سنا أهلنا،‏
مَنْ تُرى يطْلقُ الخيلَ‏
والزلْزلهْ،‏
في مدى صوتنا العربيِّ‏
الأسيرْ؟!...‏
*** ‏
طفلةً جئتكمْ‏
وكبرْتُ بلا أُمنيهْ‏
ودُفنْتُ مع الوطنِ السّنْبلهْ!...‏
كيفَ تصْحو طفولةُ روحي‏
لتشْعلَ بعضَ اللهبْ؟!...‏
كيف أُشْعلُ أعماركمْ بدمي‏
وأُقاسمكمْ ورْدةَ الدمْعِ‏
والحزْنِ‏
نوّارةً‏
أو شغبْ؟!...‏
كيفَ تطْلقُ روحي أزاهيرَها؟!...‏
كيف أرفعُ في الأفْقِ،‏
أُغنيةً منْ غضب؟!!...‏

Intonation for Peace- poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Intonation for Peace
Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

(Dedicated to the children of the world)

Learn our little birds,
how to fly above the malignity,
and the greediness of adults.
Learn,
how to protect your white jewel
of innocence,
to be leaders of peace in our nations’ future.
Learn, our little white, black, red, and
yellow ethnic buds,
how to emerge from rocks,
and flourish for life,
not for destruction, not for wars,
but to spread your petals peacefully
and say your prayers,
the way you like it,
in any religion you believe in.
Just say it.
Say it on the unknown tombs,
of millions of children,
who were dreaming like you,
dreaming of peace
on our bloody earth,
in Vietnam, Bosnia, Lebanon, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Palestine and.. and.. and ….
Yet now, they are living in eternal peace!
Create, the thinkers of our future,
new ways for universal salvation!
And become bigger, stronger, and smarter.
Be scientists, artists, poets, inventors, even
soldiers,
but take your white jewel of innocence
with you,
to illuminate the darkness of your adulthood!
Smart as you are, little sprouts,
many myths, tricks, magic news, even circus games,
may deceive you!
Your intuition is your innocent weapon.
Remember the A, B, C’s of the game.
Smart bombs, smart weapons,
have no consciences, no wills,
to keep people alive
even if they are innocent! . .
Tell the adults,
that bombs and missiles
do not distinguish between good and bad.
Do not distinguish between children and adults.
Tell the adults,
that you know the difference between
being heroic, and being aggressive
being the defender, and being the offender
being the victim and being the scourger!
Tell the adults,
that the creature who leads a tank
to destroy you house,
has cut the placenta,
between himself and humanity,
between himself and peace,
For being human,
is to be merciful!
Tell the adults,
that war is a beast,
whose gigantic hands, and bloody mouth,
can smash trees, animals, and children.
Ask the adults:
how could you fight evil with evil?!
Your innocence tells you the answer
Sweet angels!!

Breezes - poetry - Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Breezes

Ibaa Ismail

Your flowers
emerge from your roots…
If you could only toss them
within your heart,
you will have
a lovely garden.

* *
No matter what,
know how to play
the game of life…
The rest will come
from your being there!

* *
The stars shine
only at night.
Trying to shine
in the daylight,
classifies you
as being genius!

* *
I am who you are..
The wisdom is
to know how
to treat yourself
very well
only without selfishness!

* *
The language of love,
is far from being only words...
It is the night when it shines
while you are
dreaming of light!

* *
Try to play the game
of life as if
you were not there,
will make you a philosopher!

* *
Starting from no where,
makes you identify
your beginnings
but not your ends!

* *
“Are you sick?”
“I am bored”
“Being bored is a sickness
that can be treated with work.”

* *
Smile even to your agonies…
This will create
an imaginable heaven
that you can live in!

* *
Breathing ,
from the bottom
of your heart,
takes out the poison
from the soil of your depth!

* *
Play the game anyway..
You will be a loser only
if you did not try,
unless,
you are a gambler!

* *
Butterflies are all around you
Do they really bother you?
If so,
why don’t you leave the garden?

* *
Promises are gates
for fortune and happiness,
only if they were born
from our hearts,
and fulfilled by our minds!

* *
Governments
that allow too much freedom
to their people
will die of chaos…
And those which dictate
their people
will die by their people!

* *
Do you know the difference
between watching and playing
the game?
It is exactly like
living inside the house,
or being homeless!

* *
Dare you
play with your wife
the strategy of illness.
She will treat you
either a child,
or a handicap!
* *

Angels in Black Veils- Poem by: Ibaa Ismail

2007-08-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Angels in Black Veils

Those great piles of blood that stopped compiling few minutes ago….
Imagination continues to imagine the unimaginable.
The children return from elementary schools
And find no homes to live in, no books to read, no food to eat;
Their fathers were wrapped with flags
Their mothers were exiled with anguish and tears
The happiness leaves the streets
The ministers and Sheikhs were praying in Bethlehem
For the peaceful peace of the Holly Land
Angels meet on the cradle of Messiah
And supplicate for the revival of the broken wings of peace.
No cemeteries to go to
God furnishes the souls with blessed eternity
Over the bodies which were ruptured
Over the green which was still pulsating with eternal life
The bloody Dead Sea revives and witnesses the historical scene.
Its waves hide the tears, the full moon eclipsed that night
And the Angles in black veils fly over Al-Aqsa mosque and Al-Qiama church
No one had seen them fly, or why they covered their snowy bodies
With black veils over the streets which were kneaded with blood!!

My biography

2007-08-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ibaa Ismail إبــاء اســـماعيل
A poet’s

Ibaa Ismail

An American poet and translator of Syrian origin

– اباء اسماعيل-
A poet’s profile
1962- Born in Aleppo,Syria
1984- Participated in a festival for young writers and poets
sponsored by the students union at Tishreen University in Syria.

1985- Graduated from Tishreen University, Syria, with a bachelor’s
degree in English literature.

1985-1986- Participated in festivals for young writers and poets
sponsored by the Arab Writers Union in Syria.

1986- I came to the United States. (US citizen)

1995- . Graduate studies in English and American
Literature at (E. M. U)

1999- Published first collection of poems. (خيول الضوء والغربة)
“Horses of Light and Alienation,” by Cultural Ministry of Syria.

2001- Published second collection of poems. “Songs of The Soul” (اغنيات الروح) by The Arab Writers Union Press.
* The chief editor of “Pages”
- Participated in many evening literary performances and symposiums sponsored by different American and Arab American cultural clubs such as; Arab American Literary Association, The House of Arabic Culture, Bint Jebail Cultural and Social Club, Writers Without Borders Organization, Creative Art center, Bagley Housing Gallery, U.of.M and U.of. Detroit Mercy.
- I have many poems, articles, and interviews published such as in Tishreen newspaper, Al-Isbu Al-Adabi, القدس العربي , الزمان Azzaman, الحقائق, Al-Mawqif Al-Adabi,الموقف الأدبي Al-Hakeem, Al-Arabi Assageer, العربي الصغير Diwan Al-Arab, A celebration of Women Writers, Forum& Link and The Arab American Journal.
- 2005- Published (The Light of my Nations) ضوء بلادي ,a collection of poems for children
2007-published a collection of poems for adults (Inflamations of An Emigrant).
إشتعالات مُغتربة

2009- A collection of poems ( The Awakening of Fire and Jasmine) was published by the Cultural Ministery of Syria
• My poetry was considered as part of the curriculum in the post modern Arab American poetry and have been taught at the University of Muhammad the fifth in Morocco by professor Latifa Halim. Professor Halim is also a researcher and a novelist. She also included my poetic experience in the anthology for Arab women poets living outside the Arab world.
• My poetic experience is also included in Dr. Lotfi Haddad’s anthology, which highlights over a hundred Arabic poets and writers live in the Diaspora. It is also included in another anthology by Jessica Newman concerning women radical poetry of the world.
In 2006 ( The Anthology of The Arab American poetry) was published
i n Dar Sader in Beirut, Lebanon. Edited & translated by Dr Lotfi Hadad, me and others.