1. Iftar, Breaking the Fast
This draft was written during my first week in Jordan, August 2011. We arrived in Jordan during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. I was in such a state of awe at that time. No food was served during the day. Muslims fasted from sunup to sundown. At night, we'd participate in these extravagant, joyous meals. The fast was usually broken by eating a single date as the prophet Mohammad had done. Although I wasn't fasting, I'd never experienced thirst like I did in the desert. I'd walk out of an air-conditioned building and feel the heat immediately suck every bit of moisture from my body. That physical thirst seemed like a beautiful metaphor for the thirst for God or meaning or discipline or clarity or any of the non-physical things we all search for each day. I loved that the community of Muslims spent a whole month practicing this physical and spiritual thirst.
The background audio is a recording of the Islamic Call to Prayer which is played publically 5 times a day in Jordan and other Muslim countries.
2. Swim Coach in the Desert
Coaching swimming was one of the most dysfunctional, hilarious and rewarding experiences I had in Jordan. This poem struggles with one of the difficult parts of many cross-cultural experiences. Part of the vision of King's (the school where I worked) was to blend American and Jordanian values and cultural experiences; this led to some difficult moments and identity questions for me (and everyone) as we tried to determine what was cultural imperialism and what was building positive cross-cultural bridges, connections and mutual learning experiences.
This poem is dedicated to Jinseul, a porpoise in the desert, and always an imaginaria.
3. Mount Nebo
This poem is special because it's the only poem I started writing about Jordan before I got there. So really it should be the first poem in this blog, except I've had the most difficult time finishing it. Mount Nebo was about 20 km from where I lived outside of Madaba. Mount Nebo is reportedly where Moses was banished to by God in the Hebrew Bible while the other Israelites were allowed into Canaan after 40 years in the desert. I am pretty obsessed with this story because the idea of a man dying in view of his promised land yet knowing he will never set foot there is so tragic and beautiful. I wanted to feel connected to this depth of longing once I got to Mount Nebo. I wanted peace from the mysterious and impermanent nature of relationships, both with my own spiritual fulfillment and with other people. I think in my best moments the mystery of life/people/the divine is exciting and comforting and it seemed important that the poem end on that note.
This draft was written during my first week in Jordan, August 2011. We arrived in Jordan during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. I was in such a state of awe at that time. No food was served during the day. Muslims fasted from sunup to sundown. At night, we'd participate in these extravagant, joyous meals. The fast was usually broken by eating a single date as the prophet Mohammad had done. Although I wasn't fasting, I'd never experienced thirst like I did in the desert. I'd walk out of an air-conditioned building and feel the heat immediately suck every bit of moisture from my body. That physical thirst seemed like a beautiful metaphor for the thirst for God or meaning or discipline or clarity or any of the non-physical things we all search for each day. I loved that the community of Muslims spent a whole month practicing this physical and spiritual thirst.
The background audio is a recording of the Islamic Call to Prayer which is played publically 5 times a day in Jordan and other Muslim countries.
2. Swim Coach in the Desert
Coaching swimming was one of the most dysfunctional, hilarious and rewarding experiences I had in Jordan. This poem struggles with one of the difficult parts of many cross-cultural experiences. Part of the vision of King's (the school where I worked) was to blend American and Jordanian values and cultural experiences; this led to some difficult moments and identity questions for me (and everyone) as we tried to determine what was cultural imperialism and what was building positive cross-cultural bridges, connections and mutual learning experiences.
This poem is dedicated to Jinseul, a porpoise in the desert, and always an imaginaria.
3. Mount Nebo
This poem is special because it's the only poem I started writing about Jordan before I got there. So really it should be the first poem in this blog, except I've had the most difficult time finishing it. Mount Nebo was about 20 km from where I lived outside of Madaba. Mount Nebo is reportedly where Moses was banished to by God in the Hebrew Bible while the other Israelites were allowed into Canaan after 40 years in the desert. I am pretty obsessed with this story because the idea of a man dying in view of his promised land yet knowing he will never set foot there is so tragic and beautiful. I wanted to feel connected to this depth of longing once I got to Mount Nebo. I wanted peace from the mysterious and impermanent nature of relationships, both with my own spiritual fulfillment and with other people. I think in my best moments the mystery of life/people/the divine is exciting and comforting and it seemed important that the poem end on that note.
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