POEMS FOR PUBLICATION IN IWABOGDANI-5TH
ROKIAH HASHIM.
BIODATA:
Rokiah Hashim from Malaysia writes using the name of Siti Ruqaiyah Hashim. She graduated from University of Science in Malaysia in Theatre and Drama, then continued her studies in University of Sydney and obtained Post Graduate Diploma in Translation from Institute of Translations and Books in Malaysia. Starting from 1987 her poems and short stories were published by mainstream literature magazines and newspapers. She is also prolific in film and theatre critics and wrote since 2007 in her column in a major national daily in Malaysia and published a film critic book in 2015 titled Kritikan Filem Siti RuqaiyahHashim and some 250 articles. A bi-lingual anthology of her poems titled Catharsis/Katarsis in English and Bahasa Melayu was published in 2015 and Spanish in 2016. Her bi-lingual anthology together with 12 other world peace poets titled News From Strasbourg was published in 2017 in E Book form. All translation into Bahasa Melayu was done by Siti Ruqaiyah herself. Her bi-lingual second World Peace Poem anthology titled Peace Be Upon You Davos was published by Kultura Snova, Zagreb, Croatia in June 2019.
Her collection of poems were translated and published in Albanian recently by Ditet E Naimit 2019 titled Rerat E Sri Lavender. Her latest bi-lingual book is translations of ShaipEmerllahu poems In Bahasa Melayu and English titled EpalTetovo/Apples of Tetovo published by Kultura Snova, Zagreb, Croatia. Her works also appeared in numerous other anthologies together with other poets from all over the world and in foreign magazines and newspaper. Her poems were translated into 16 languages including English,Mandarin, Croatian, Uzbekistan, Arabic, Mongolian, Spanish , Albanian, Turkish, Russian, Bosnian, Serbian, French, Japanese and Romanian. She attended numerous local poem festivals in Malaysia and all over the world including Peru, Taiwan, Czechoslavakia, Morocco, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Tunisia, Albania and Croatia. She is currently living in Europe and an associate author with International magazine Diogen Pro Culture for World Peace (USA), Poetrybay (USA),GreenwatchBangladesh, Campus 247.Wordpress (Ghana), AtunisGalaktike Poetry (Brussels) IWABOGDANI (Brussels) and many others. Her poem won Best Poem in Split, Croatia in May 2019. She was awarded by IWABOGDANI, 10TH Yalta Chekov Festival 2019, International Forum of Creativity and Humanity, Morrocco 2020.
GAZA OH GAZA!
I don’t know how many times they asked Can poems fights phosphorus and tanks? Can it crush arrogance? and I don’t know how many times to tell them that spark starts from feelings turned into raging fiery words just like us sitting here reading poems throwing voices to the entire corners not because that’s all we can do but thatshow it started and ended
Gaza and Gaza again stories of your pain during last season introduced me to a traveller or he could be running away from his pains and the redness of blood spilled on your streets unite us
Today without realizing it your pain and wounds retained us here
Gaza oh Gaza! Your blood and tears make me forgot my own pain
Hey! they said that’s Diana Spencer Syndrome focusing on others pain and slowly it erases your own!
Oh I don’t care about it pain is pain doesn’t matter if itsan old mother who lost her young man on the bloody street of Gaza or that woman scarred for life under siege by proxy of a big power and she lives just at the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur
Gaza oh Gaza! your pain and mine are united now and it demands understanding submission and acceptance of fate and His decisions
At this point suddenly I realized again that road is never easy as difficult as trying to understand why babies cry at birth whom the Sufis say its because they are thrown into this world and suddenly realizing life is very much His moves and games and who are we to refute what had been decided In the Almighty Kingdom all along?
God Thank you
POEM FOR MY ELDEST SON.
In this non-stop journey everytime I pass by duty free shops you are the one I remembered most due to missing you because I no longer go into those shops to buy CK and Hugo Boss perfumes your favorites because I don’t know when we will meet and I cant bear to see those bottles because it will worsened my missing you
My son I never stop praying that you will be safe and well and we will meet again soon in loving embraces a mother to her eldest son.
Pristina-Istanbul-Tunis February-March 2019.
YOU SAID
You said don’t go back don’t go back don’t go back to miseries
You said come to me as what you are together we seek for justice on their arrogance
You said go to the sea, my love till happiness appears
You said we are the moon that collapsed……but reunited
I said thank you for loving me but loving you at times are scary to dream but I am already here and not going anywhere
Pristina, Kosovo Summer 2019.