The Poetteer

Hello Poetteers, As people read HER OLIVES I realized I should have added a glossary. Here are two new poems to help you better understand the other poems. Olives in Arabic is zaytoon Olives are this dark green color of brownish green of nature and it's fruit also used as an oil Olives are bitter but balances a meal Olives are from the Mediterranean and all the countries that border it it's the skin tone of people from that area. Olives are a symbol of peace. Za'atar is thyme a plant connected to the roots of Palestine Za'atar is a mixture of herbs to enjoy on bread baked similarly to pizza or dipped with olive oil or a seasoning for hummus. Love, Fida  I realized Her Olives should have a glossary, download it here . 

Hello Poetteers, Today is the 3rd book anniversary of my poetry book, Her Olives ! With that, I give you a new poem. Traditional Dress She is given a gift of a dress and thought of it only as that loving the design on the cloth not knowing the depth of the embroidery  but she walks in tall and graceful her dress flows from her broad shoulders to her feet in black cloth the cloth of the chest and arms embroidered with colored threads called tatreez she comes to find each design hand stitched the variation in tatreez holds different symbols there is also variations of the traditional dress from different parts of Palestine She barely scratched the surface of knowing the stories behind the designs all with stories and history of Palestine. stay inspired, Fida I realized Her Olives should have a glossary, you can find it here.  

Hello Poetteers, You talk about falafel like your own people made it I understand you love them I hope you continue to love them but know it didn't originate from your own it originated from another group of people whose streets are filled with vendors and fresh smells and spice whose walls hold so much history whose land tries to wave its own flag. Love, Fida For more poems like this, check out Her Olives. 

Hello Poetteers, We are reaching towards our last day of this poetry blogfest. Today will be Two for Thursday. Your second to last prompt is to write about a struggle and victory or struggle vs. victory, anything like that. You try and try keep being put down but finally one small thing done more done until something big you keep going. Option two is inspired by Janet Gurtler. Write about things you thought were true. Things I thought were true that I could know only one language that all flowers are real that your actual heart looks like a heart that everything is good Things I thought were true that I was confined that I couldn't get better Things I thought were true that my faith was only about physical things that love was hard to get. P.S. I'm adding new goal. I want to reach 15k in my WIP by the end of the week. Practically have three days left. Yet my WIP is already at 10k. That means I have to write 1k one day and 2k over the next two ...

Hello Poetteers, Today is day three of OLIVE JAZZ. The prompt is write about a stranger and an enemy. If you want to go back: Day Two . Day One . My goal is to write everyday and edit at least a page a day of MAYBE LOVING YOU. I finished my writing for today. I still need to edit today. I did get four pages done yesterday. P.S. You should check out the BLITZ team. In small, you spread love to bloggers. One blog I think you should check out is Cafuné , if you love poems, bookstore observations and intimate things. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Today is day two of OLIVE JAZZ!! The prompt is a little simpler than yesterday's : Write about family vs friend. Family vs. Friend Family is someone that always stays while friends come and go Family is those who understand the craziness of your family yet friends give you an outsider view on how to deal with family Family is back home where all the extended members live in the same house or at least the same street Friends are those who live near by become your family when you don't have one. P.S. A group of girls are hosting a writer recharge this month and I'm joining in. My goals are to revise a page a day for MAYBE LOVING YOU. Write 6 days a week. You can check in at #WriterRecharge. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We will resume regular schedule after Feb 18, 2014. This week is the poetry blogfest for the upcoming release of HER OLIVES. Today's prompt is to write a poem about a typical day in freedom and occupation. Good luck! Here is my attempt: Occupation vs. Freedom Occupation is your land taken going trough checkpoints at every corner to enter another city waiting in long lines not knowing if you'll get through if they are in a good mood or bad mood and shoot. Freedom is living wherever getting what you need and even what you want and a good amount of it Freedom is is the ability to go anywhere without being watched or hurt. --- Celebration Yes there is Independence Day or anniversaries of loss days and harvest days and different kinds of love days Yet we need more days to show our love for the world and our countries Yesterday as a Palestinian I celebrate as a Palestinian is represented on TV Today I start a celebration of my upcoming publication of Palestinian ...

Hello readers!! Today is an awesome day!! My upcoming poetry collection has a cover!! Drumroll please... ... You can add it on Goodreads. And I can't forget, a big thank you to Heather McCorkle for taking the time to make this awesome cover (: Love and thank you, Fida

Hello readers! Also hello to the ones I see lurking in the shadows, waiting for my A to Z entries! (-: Today like any day, I'm blessed with many things thankful for those many things Before the weekend I revealed my thoughts on self publishing a poetry collection, woohoo! I volunteered the second time at the local Islamic school I found a new favorite, honey walnut shrimp it doesn't even taste like shrimp Over the weekend I was blessed to go to a wedding a Palestinian wedding to be exact, it was fairy tale like I learned so much from it about my culture I had fun, blessed to be with friends. -Fida Islaih {all writing is copyrighted}

Hello readers, This month's prompt is to write about a book. What is one particular book that changed your life? Why did you originally choose to read it? What impact has it had on you? The book that changed my life, not many people know about, it is 'Mornings in Jenin' by Susan Abulhawa. The book talks about life in the village to living in a refugee camp. It goes through 4 generations. Most of the book follows one girl and her life of learning and moving out of camp to continue her learning. I love this book and it changed my life. I got this when I was slowly started to think of the Palestinian cause. I remember the day I was on the computer looking at the Barnes & Noble website and looking for books on Palestine or something similar. My parents surprised me with the book, apparently, I left the page open or they looked at the Internet history. I know they know I really love reading. Either the secretly knew my love for Palestine or just wanted me to star...

Hello readers, Rachel Corrie Rachel is one of those young ladies beautiful inside and out Once a young girl knew along that she cares about the people In college, yet old enough to volunteer her time she went to visit Gaza With other activists she protested for resources for those having homes demolished She lived with these people learning the culture writing her thoughts But Israel doesn't care if she's American, she's protesting for Palestinians they ran over and killed her with a bulldozer We will remember the injustice but more than that we will remember Rachel for the work she's done, the love she has as her spirit lives on I guess we all have a little Rachel Corrie in us we just have to be more active fighting for her and the Palestinians. {written 2:00 p.m. Aug 28, 2012} Love, Fida Islaih This poem is now published in Her Olives .