Category Archives: poetry

the unfinished business of the book project: peculiar 5-7-5s & other imaginings

Posted on November 20, 2023 by sandstarsblog

The book project that I have last written about here: Peculiar Speed of the 5-7-5s is now more or less completed, and a PDF eBook is being made available to interested readers on this site’s bookshelf. As it turns out, … Continue reading →

Posted in about me, book, general, haiku, poetry | Tagged 5-7-5, eBook, generative AI illustrations, haiku, imagine, poems, poetry, publishing, sadain, senryu, Sulu | Leave a comment

the semicolon

Posted on October 19, 2019 by sandstarsblog

unfinished business the semicolon is unfinished business; don’t use it if you are not willing to deal with unfinished businesses; an invitation you cannot refuse to take a leap beyond the known to explore what lies ahead; a separation that … Continue reading →

Posted in about me, general, poetry | Tagged blogging, bonding, cecelia watson, home, kurt vonnegut, lewis thomas, life and death, Project Semicolon, punctuation, quest, semicolon, sentence, separation, thoughtflow, unfinished business | 20 Comments

ramadan

Posted on June 3, 2019 by sandstarsblog

ramadan my world cannot sleep with the tinnitus of silence,my 3 am soaked in the rousing scent of lemon drops and apple cider vinegar that dress up the onion and watercress salad for the suhūr meal waiting in the kitchen, … Continue reading →

Posted in general, poetry, politics, religion, science & technology | Tagged backward causality, dawn, destiny, drones, fasting, fate, imam, Islam, Laylatul Qadr, masjid, masque, missiles, mosque, Muslim, news, night, Night of Decree, peace, prayers, Qur'an, Ramadan, social media, suhur, supplications | 5 Comments

scoria

Posted on April 26, 2019 by sandstarsblog

scoria oh, to bless the meek, to inherit the earth,to drown our hearts in the raging sea. to teach a man how to beg and he will learn how to smile.to teach a man how to fish and he will … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, politics, religion | Tagged extremist, fear, intolerance, rage, religion, scum of the earth, sufferings, terrorism, the meek shall inherit the earth | 8 Comments

dissection

Posted on April 5, 2019 by sandstarsblog

dissection come brother and feel this pulse rhyming with the flowing red. its presence is evidence that i have a heart like yours. reach closer now and feel me breathe: this chest heaves with the warmth of the sunshine in … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, politics | Tagged change, chemistry, death, differences, dissection, energy, flow, flux, identity, imagination, life, sameness, separation, similarities, unity | 7 Comments

the seeds

Posted on March 22, 2019 by sandstarsblog

the seeds the world is shrinking as we shake from all the swelling and the aches the hours are shorter, distances near for all the borders we hold dear, and as the world shrinks and squeezes us in its membranes … Continue reading →

Posted in general, poetry, politics, religion | Tagged Al Noor Mosque Christchurch NZ, haka, Islamophobia, love & hate, terrorism, white supremacy | 7 Comments

talking to the sun

Posted on February 15, 2019 by sandstarsblog

talking to the sun the cars stop at red, a momentary block, as the gaunt but big-boned man — with sun-baked face and arms, hair and beard dangling wiry, crinkled like loose threads of his faded-violet duffel bag slung on … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry | Tagged graven cup, hobo, journey, poem, pointy finger of doom, rant, red-eye, street scene, sun, talking to the sun, tensions, traffic light | 13 Comments

enchanted

Posted on January 11, 2019 by sandstarsblog

‘nice to see, nice to hold, once broken, considered sold.’ — anonymously printed on a signboard at a borders store spells to sell modern magic spells, flasks of fortune to dispense ancient human greed stir up the cauldron, lift … Continue reading →

Posted in haiku, poetry | Tagged 5-7-5, appetite, borders, consumerism, enchantment, greed, modernity, sale, spells | 6 Comments

still lost in time at the 10:10

Posted on December 31, 2018 by sandstarsblog

when the 10:10 strikes the public is normally a band of toy soldiers for mainstream and social media to play with. what will you be when at 10:10 the clock strikes? © ssj 2018 Notes: Lifted from a postcard … Continue reading →

Posted in photography, poetry | Tagged 10:10, advertising, binary code, clock, consumerism, holiday wish, mainstream media, multiverse, social media, Suria KLCC, time, toy soldiers, whimsical | 9 Comments

splitting seconds

Posted on November 24, 2018 by sandstarsblog

splitting seconds this is what a WTD moment on 71st Sinaiyah at my 10: 10:00 AM looks like from the driver’s seat: narrow asphalt lanes no longer than a mile going and coming empty but for the single file of … Continue reading →