War and Peace « Lasára Allen

Arise Then, Women of This Day - The Roots of Mother's Day

Did you know that Mother’s Day was created as an opportunity to stand against war?

Here is the first stanza of a piece of writing called The Mothers’ Day Proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe, a feminist and abolitionist, in 1870.

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water

Continue reading Arise Then, Women of This Day – The Roots of Mother’s Day

My Grandfather's Flag - In Memoriam

This memorial day, I hope you’ll take a moment to remember, to pray for, all those who have fallen in the lines of fire – not just “our” men and boys, wives and daughters, but all of those who have fallen, everywhere around the world.

In Memoriam

Written Memorial Day, 2009

My mother grew up  with photos  of

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The Roots of Mother’s Day: Protest and Pacifism

Arise Then, Women of This Day

When most people think of Mother’s Day, they may think of roses, champagne brunches, “mother’s rings,” and a visit to mom’s place. While the idea of family togetherness is a lovely sentiment, there was a different, and perhaps even deeper, original meaning to the beginning of

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Fasting Against Hunger

“Day five of water-only fasting. No food at all since Friday night. And I’m not the only one. Hundreds of thousands of faith leaders, secular leaders, workers’ rights activist, and poor folks nation-wide are fasting too. I happen to fall into more than one of those categories.

And still the collective silence is deafening. Too many

Continue reading Fasting Against Hunger – at elephant

Thanks and Thanksgiving - Gratitude is a Gift, and so is Remembrance

Most of us know something about the far-from-glorious fall-out that followed that first, mythical “Thanksgiving Day”. It’s easy enough to get attached to the negative political connotations of this holiday, and to have Thanksgiving become “Guiltfast” or “Guiltfest”.

In no way do I want to belittle the horror and carnage that followed the “founding of a

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My Grandfather's Flag

Marcus A. Golczynski, 30, the father of this child, was killed in Iraq on March 27, 2009. "We fight and sometimes die, so our families don't have to."

“…I hope you’ll take a moment to remember, to pray for, all those who have fallen in the lines of fire – not just “our” men

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The New Anti-Muslim Wave, Eid al Fitr, and 9/11 - What Will YOU Do?

Reprinted from elephantjournal.com. Original publication date; 9/7/2010

Crazy fact:
The Jewish Holy Days move from year to year, the Muslim Holy Days move, and 9/11, of course, stays right where it is.
This year:
Rosh Hashanah: September 9, 2010
Eid al Fitr (the three-day feast/celebration at the end of Ramadan): September 10, 2010
And, 9/11.
Interesting line-up.

And a very frightening one

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Seven Things You Probably Didn't Know About Islam

Reprinted from elephantjournal.com, first publication date 9/4/2010

Bismillah, ar Rahman, ar Rahim. (In the name of Allah, most beneficent and merciful.)

Ramadan kareem!

1. Mystical Oneness with God
In a mystical sense, Islam is a non-dualist religion. When I first read these words by ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima bint Muhammad, I was overwhelmed with a sense of,

Continue reading Seven Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Islam

9/11 Happened to Us All

First Writing Since
(Poem on Crisis of Terror)

by Suheir Hammad
New York, New York

Suheir Hammad is the author of “Born Palestinian, Born Black” (Harlem River Press, 1996, $12.00, ISBN 0-863-16244-4) and other books.

1. there have been no words.
i have not written one word.
no poetry in the ashes south of canal street.
no prose in the refrigerated trucks driving

Continue reading 9/11 Happened to Us All

Eid Mubarak (Happy Festival) to All My Muslim Brothers and Sisters!

For my NON-Muslim brothers and sisters, here’s an article I wrote recently: Seven Things That You Probably Didn’t Know About Islam, and another, The New Anti-Muslim Wave, Eid al Fitr, and 9/11 – What Will YOU Do?

A Translation of the Islamic Adhan, or Call to Prayer

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah
I bear witness that

Continue reading Eid Mubarak (Happy Festival) to All My Muslim Brothers and Sisters!

In Honor of Ramadan

Even the idea of love is separation. In claiming a beloved, earthly or divine, we put ourselves into separation. Through this separation we have the chance to seek

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A Poem for Palestine

August, 2007

here,
in this place of unyielding hardship
the soil trembles
with subtle urgency
without moving

bodies quiver
electricity dancing on the surface of
straining skin

restraint
oppression
desire
fear
all held
in abeyance -
a sacred secret
voiced in harsh-edged whispers
in the dark of night
and lost to forgiving winds

here,
trees bend low
branches heavy hanging
with over-ripe fruit
no way to pick the figs
beyond the shadow of the wall

still,
roses grow
dawn kisses sweet-smelling earth
with

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The Wall - Who's the Terrorist?

Imagine you are sitting in your home. …When you look out the window, you can see a wall growing closer and closer, day by day, straight toward the walls of your home. You know that the larger wall will not correct its course. You know that soon, very soon, your walls will be gone, leaving only the larger wall

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Sixty Years of Temporary - Arroub Refugee Camp, Palestine

Entry to Arroub Camp (Al Arroub).

August, 2007

Yesterday I went to Al Arroub Camp. Remember, you take the bitter with the sweet…

In 1948 the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands began. Palestinians were driven forcibly from the homes their forefathers had built, whole villages were emptied of the Arab population. Villages that had been built of

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Send me the Sunset

I ask you to
send me Arab coffee
but i want to say
send
the coffee vendor
crooked teeth and gentle smile
who stands with burnished cart
at the far end of the square

I ask you to
send maramia
but i want you to
send me
the scent of water and wild weeds
at Solomon’s Pools

I plead
send me a
strong smelling, rosewood rosary
frankincense
and myrhh
zatar

but deeply,
I long to walk

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In Memory of Mahmoud Darwish, 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008

I wrote this piece on the day Mahmoud Darwish, Poet Laureate of Palestine, the voice of the Palestinian people, died. It is dedicated to him.

Filistina, Ya Habibi

(Palestine, My Beloved)

I invite you
to come inside
the sitting room
of my life

to smell the scent of the dirt that holds
the roots of jasmine
to smell the flower
to smell
the coffee brewing in

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Sheikh Bukhari, man of peace, laid to rest in Jerusalem at age of 61

“Sufi sheikh who preached nonviolence laid to rest”…may his spirit guide us still.

One of the sweetest men I have ever met, a man I am grateful to have had the occasion to learn from and work with (for far too short a time), a man of peace and true heart, has passed on.

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A Meditation on Peace, and the Prayer of Saint Francis

Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood

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