قصة وشعر ورسم - Poems & Paintings
I read your lips before you speak
I read your mind before you think
I read your words before you write
Then I fall in love once more
as if life is endless
as if spring lasts and autumn never comes.
My heart and soul read with words
and without, far and beyond
as if you were writing just to me
as if it is a magical spell
I surrender every time to you.
What power do words have?
Language is a secret that lovers cover to uncover.
Written by Najat Alshafie
Painting by Najat Alshafie
Painting by Najat Alshafie using inks and acrylics on paper.
Poem: A 1000 Questions By: Najat Alshafie
A 1000 questions
and more
lingering in my head
trembling like sea waves
not settling on the shore.
Are daydreams bitter or sweet?
Are years of yearning sad or mad?
Are watches watching our sorrows?
Are you a fantasy or true?
I keep wondering and wandering;
why a lamp post shimmers in a deserted street;
why the shades of loved ones have faded;
why there is so much pain;
why mortals struggle in vain;
why your soul is in a chain;
why loneliness is your haven when you are born;
why broken hearts ache and are deeply torn';
why all the kisses melt apart';
why the sofa in my bedroom is weeping and the curtain leaping;
why the door is wide open and no nock,
a glimpse of luck or a tweeting clock;
why life ends when it has just begun;
why time fades as a dimming light;
why and why until the end of time?
O, Plato!
Come once again!
Please don’t leave me
with a 1000 questions
haunting me
Unanswered!
Poem and artwork by Najat Alshafie
30/3/2024
I glued my eyes until darkness,
not to see you, my beloved.
A phantom of a woman with crimson hands,
departing alone to deserted lands.
I can’t see all the destruction,
that ripped your beautiful face.
I can’t stand the cries of weeping mosques and churches.
I can’t hear the loud sighs of tormented children.
I can’t touch your broken heart.
I can’t feel your fading pulse.
I can’t weep anymore.
I’m frozen in the moment of departure.
You are mesmerised in my glued eyes.
I will dream of you every morning,
but with holes, a lot of holes in my heart.
Holes where the lost ones have once been.
My tears are still burning my soul.
Death in walking distance.
I know my footprints will be haunting me forever,
until I step on them once again.
I shall return with more olive trees in my hands,
bird seeds under my wing,
to revive all the slaughtered pigeons.
I shall behold my dreams, my beloved one.
I will drown our memories in the bottom of my heart.
Then wear a mask of silence,
cry for ages,
before the craws creep in silence
and steal them away.
I sing you love stories,
when you wake up, my sunshine,
when we are indulged in the river of passion,
all guilty and sinned,
seeking forbidden dreams.
Poem written by Najat Alshafie in honour of Heba Zagout.
*Art work by Heba Zagout, the 39-year-old Palestinian artist who was killed with her children by Israelis in an air strike in October 2023.
https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/culture/heba-zagout-artist-peace-in-gaza
I am half half
black & white.
sometimes I say
my mother is a black knight flying a kite
my father is a white kite flying at night
sometimes I say
my mother is a white kite flying at night
my father is black as a knight flying a kite
I am a mixed race,
so, it does NOT matter who is a black & who is white!
which side of the moon is dark & which side is bright!
I am the 2 sides in a shiny night full of stars.
I keep the secrets hidden in my eyes
throne under my colored skin that never dies
pebbles obstructing my throat
signs on my face, hands & feet
hangers of my coat in the street
ME ME ME is my beat
black & white!
Writing and drawing: Najat Alshafie
Time is an Arabian horse running wild in the desert
if I don't run like a falcon,
I can’t catch it
if I don't tame it with Passion,
I’d fall from its back
and break my heart;
Read MoreI cry to all injustice, “NO!”
NO more wars or selling of arms!
NO black, white, red, or yellow
But colourful roses and butterflies everywhere!
Read MorePoem dedicated to master artists: Richard Henry and Adam Williamson who teach with dedication, joy and passion .
Read MoreA poem about a deserted design school
Read More
Photo taken by Najat Alshafie. 18 April 2019
Two gardenias arm in arm
Stubborn as a mule
Defy adversity of barren seasons and Northern winds
Stretch to live in a peaceful land
Spread their delicious scent miles away
Passionate to thrive
Blossom in a midsummer night
Awakened memories of innocent childhood
Climbing tall trees of happiness
Planting seeds of joyfulness in the shades of awaited dreams
Shrouded white gardenias embedded in a garden in my book.
Weary Heart
O' weary sensations
that triggered unforgettable feelings
A solitude awakened lingering memories
Nothing crept in an immortal silence
but the ashes of fading faces and voices.
My heart captivated in a golden cage
waxy wings of aspirations melted at sunrise
That warm touch penetrated my skin
revived every detail buried under the feathers.
So tiny became my world of words
invisible shadows invaded my secret garden
Every second away from you
dark ages weeping destiny.
Far away in a vast desert
I shattered to a million pieces
O' wonderland save me from
remembrance that embraces
my monotonous nights.
Poem & artwork
Najat Alshafie
March 1st 2011
TALL I SHALL STAND
TALL I shall STAND
On the hot burning pearls of golden sand.
TALL I shall STAND
Running deeply into the veins of a peaceful land.
TALL I shall STAND
My naked chest is BRAVERY
Engraved with my bare hand.
TALL I shall STAND
Darkness shall not prevail my future
Darkness shall not oppress the people on my sacred land.
TALL I shall STAND
As an eagle craving to the mountainous glorious ground.
TALL I shall STAND
Beneath my feet crimson blossoms are found.
TALL I shall STAND
Hear the sea beating loudly in my sound.
TALL I shall STAND
NOT defeated, Unbreakable, Nor bound.
TALL I shall STAND
Freedom from oppression is the essence of a beautiful mind.
TALL I shall STAND
You are the only human of a distinctive kind.
Dedicated to the martyrs of the world
Najat Alshafie
17 February 2011