Ghazals for Foley...

What is a Ghazal?

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I had no idea (other than it is a poetic form from the middle east) until I read the introduction to this wonderful work.  I didn't look it up because I was enthralled with the content of this beatific book!  I didn't know James Foley, but my friend Yago Cura was his good friend.  Hinchas press (Yago Cura publisher) just recently published a book of Poetry entitled Ghazals for Foley.  This is a striking collection of poems written by people to James Foley posthumously.   The book also includes a short story written by Foley that is utterly fascinating, intriguing and beautiful.  I feel like I got to know Jim Foley via these poems and his short story.  The intensity of a life so well lived is reason for a celebration. 

The poems vary in quality according to my taste, but there are some really striking and personal words here.  They are all beautiful and in deeply personal.  The poets range from well-known writers, to other war correspondents, to writing teachers and students of James Foley.

I've got a bad Sufi feeling, Jim.

That road-those trees-

The light shifting in the Mountains-

Don't go, Jim.

Please-don't go.

It was a Thursday, 

And you were on your way home.

Jim, I have a bad Sufi feeling.

Bad Sufi Feeling by Claire Morgana Gillis

Even if you aren't much of a poetry fan, the emotion of these poems is striking and hits home.

Through these poems I learned that James Foley was a Journalist, a Friend, A Lover, a Student, A Teacher, an artist and a great American among many other things.  

What does it mean to be American?

 

What does it mean to be human?

What did it mean to be James Foley?

This works gives you just a bit of an insight into this brave soul.
 

These poems are ALL full of love for humanity and for James Foley.     

This collection is describes the real man, not the man who was used to manipulate world hatred against Islam.  It seems like every political, religious and other faction wanted to use James Foley’s death for his or her own benefit.  This work helps mitigate that in my mind.    It humanizes and reclaims Mr. Foley for his friends, his family and for people, like me, who didn't even know him.  

James Foley: Writer

 

The short story at the end of this book was the best thing about it for me.  I had never really read anything by Mr. Foley and his work does not fail to impress.  The story is artistic in the sense that it touches on human emotions like love, loneliness, fear, adventure and respect.  It also gives one a snapshot into what life is like in a "green zone."  I often wonder what people do in such places, what people think while behind these walls and how they interact with locals.  This story satisfies and piques many of my curiosities.   I don't know many people who have been to the wars in the Middle East, and have not asked those who have what it was like. 

 I was going to write more about this book, but you will get much more from it by ordering it and reading it here:

https://squareup.com/store/hinchas-press/item/ghazals-for-foley

12.95 

ISBN: 978-0-9845398-7-1

Citizen by Claudia Rankine (Book Review)

This book is amazing on so many levels.

Poetically, it stands almost alone as an example of relationships, alienation, microaggressions, and racism in the 21st century US.

Quote from Citizen

A friend recommended this book to me over the break--as we were all freshly cut wide open from the Ferguson coverage, revealing local discussions and ongoing murder of POC from any age and area in the US.

I finally got a hold of it via the library and read it in earnest.

The descriptions of racial microaggressions in 2nd person narrative poetry are so powerful I was shaking as I read them.

Quote from Citizen

Each page is condensed emotion, reaction and analysis of a lifetime of experiencing relationships that bite while smiling.  Her poetry describes how inescapable it is to be a POC in the US at this time and place.  The relentless assault upon our senses of 21st century lynchings and their impact the mental health, awareness and identity of POC is explicated in detail.  This explication is via emotions, images and the powerful poetic voice of Ms. Rankine.

I don't read many books of poetry, nor do I often recommend them.  However, this work should be standard reading for any HS senior, or 1st year college students.  Anyone interested in Race in the US should read this book.  It gets at the heart of what it feels like to live in the US at this time as a POC.

Read this book.

Order this book for your library.

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