Thoughts on Norway, A Reply

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Soosan Khanoom
by Soosan Khanoom
27-Jul-2011
 

 Thoughts on Norway, A Reply

 


Wake up
Can’t you see the world is on fire
And to be a human
Is what that we all have forgotten?

I hear no beating heart
No soothing voice
I see no tears
Eyes have lost their souls

Stone cold colors the faces
Smile no longer exist
Emotions are buried 
No hope
No resurrection 

I pick a flower
It has no scent
No color
I reach out for a hand 
But no one is near 

What did happen to the life?
Has everyone forgotten love?
Where have all the humans gone?

HSK  aka Darya

 

I wrote the above poem as a reply to a friend poet of mine.  

Here I would like to share with you his thoughts on Norway. 

 

Thoughts on Norway


I wanted to send a note of heart-felt compassion to the people of Norway in the aftermath of the terrible attacks that occurred a few days ago.
I still remember the shock of the Columbine High School shooting in the late 90s. I was living in Colorado by then, and I knew of the neighborhood where it happened. But the recent tragedy in Norway is different; it has more in common with the Oklahoma City Bombing than with the Columbine Shooting. The attacks in Norway were an intentional act of terrorism by right-wing extremists trying to force their religious and social views on society. 
————
All people are children when they sleep.
there’s no war in them then.
They open their hands and breathe
in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them.
They pucker their lips like small children
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody harm.
If only we could speak to one another then
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
– Rolf Jacobsen (Norway, 1907 – 1994)
————
I thought it might be appropriate to resend some thoughts I wrote about a year ago in response to a different terrorist attack that occurred in Pakistan:
Each culture, each tradition has its violent extremists. We have Christian extremists. We have Jewish extremists. Islamic extremists have certainly grabbed headlines in recent years. There are Hindu extremists in India. Extremism is not a problem of a particular religion, it is a disruption in the human psyche in general.
Religious extremism has very little to do with religion, if you think about it. It’s partly a reflexive response to the intensely fragmenting nature of the modern world. And it’s partly a reaction against the unavoidable, sometimes unsettling encounters with different peoples and cultures and beliefs in our ever-more integrated and multi-layered world. But mostly– mostly it is an act of desperation when the heart of true religion has been lost. People become violently obsessed with rules and traditions and texts only when they have lost the sense of what they really point to.
If you know where the Beloved lives, you are content, no need to argue with others over street names. Conflict only arises when you aren’t so certain you know the way; that’s when another person’s map threatens your certainty. Fundamentalism and extremism and xenophobia are an admission of that spiritual uncertainty. Absolutism is not an expression of faith, it is a symptom of a lack of faith. It is a symptom of the lack of true spiritual experience and knowledge.
The real long-term solution to the problem of violent religious extremism in the world is to reawaken that sweet, secret, sacred bliss within ourselves, to gently and generously share it with others, to create environments conducive to that continuing quest. The more we fill the world’s dry troughs with fresh water, the less likely it is that people will go insane with blind thirst.
————
War is cut short by a word,
and a word heals the wounds,
and there’s a word that changes
poison into butter and honey.
~ Yunus Emre (Turkey, 13th cent)
————
Sending blessings, and love, and cool water to you all!
- Ivan

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more from Soosan Khanoom
 
Soosan Khanoom

Dear Disenchanted

by Soosan Khanoom on

You are so kind ... thank you and I am glad that you liked my poem.

I'll take your advice and stay away from the Philosophy ... although I should admit that it is so much fun to sometimes argue ...LOL

How many philosophers does it take to change a light bulb? 
"Hmmm... well there's an interesting question isn't it?" 
"Define 'light bulb'..." 

"How can you be sure it needs changing?"  


Disenchanted

Nice poem. You can even quit your day job! :-)

by Disenchanted on

 Very nice:

I pick a flower
It has no scent
No color
I reach out for a hand 
But no one is near 

What did happen to the life?
Has everyone forgotten love?
Where have all the humans gone?

       Certainly poetry is your turf not philosophy :-) In matters politics you have been a voice of sanity on this site as well. Thanks...


Soosan Khanoom

Thanks everyone

by Soosan Khanoom on

for taking your time and reading this blog ..... 

: ) 


Omid Parsi

@ Tavana: Why don't you join the peaceful Taleban!

by Omid Parsi on

Enough b.s. denying Islamists' resposibility for 9/11. Kudos to our hi-tech military for blowing up the subhuman monsters by remote control from the "heavens"...


Tavana

Thoughts on Ignorance

by Tavana on

"Each culture, each tradition has its violent extremists."

Like of US, UK cultures to violently occupy other countries under the phony disguise of fighting with extremists! & killing hundreds of thousands people there & to violently drone pakistanis & afghanis on a daily basis. Are these cry-babies/poems going to help them with their outcries a bit? 

"go after a mosque? Are there any mosques in Norway? Much chagrin to see his anger and frustration directed at his own folks?"

Why are the people outside the Mosque any better/superior than the ones inside? 

PS: The same ignrant ones who were fed by the belief that 911 attack had been done by 19 Muslims, are now being injected by the fantastic? stories that the Norway attacker was anti-Muslims! Hoo la la!

 


Oon Yaroo

I wish IC Islamists would come out and display outrage

by Oon Yaroo on

every time their fellow Islamists commit massacre in the name of Allah around the world, be it in FT Hood, TX, in London, in Madrid, in India, in Pakistan, in Iran, and on and on...

 


Anahid Hojjati

Thanks Soosan khanoom for your poem

by Anahid Hojjati on

 

There were times in my life that the sweetest friend that I had was the most religious one. Unfortunately, when religion becomes too politicized, the sweetness and consideration goes away in many people. Thanks for sharing your poem.

I pick a flower
It has no scent
No color
I reach out for a hand 
But no one is near 

very beautiful.


 


Mammad

Thank you Soosan Khanoom

by Mammad on

Your elegant and rational voice is fresh air in this website which has become the home for Iranian extremists wishing a terrible fate for our beloved homeland under the guise of "democracy," and those who demonize Islam and Muslims under any excuse that they find. Just look at oon yaroo's comment.

Mammad


Oon Yaroo

Thank you AH.

by Oon Yaroo on

...


Maryam Hojjat

Oon Yaroo, Yes

by Maryam Hojjat on

there are several ellegant, large masques in Norwar according to the recent news.


Oon Yaroo

Why didn't brother Andres Behring Breivik ....

by Oon Yaroo on

go after a mosque? Are there any mosques in Norway?

Much chagrin to see his anger and frustration directed at his own folks?

 


salman farsi

Very good blog Soosan Khanom

by salman farsi on

 

Religious extremism begets fanatic reaction. Moderation is the key. 

For an Islamic democracy


M. Saadat Noury

Thanks

by M. Saadat Noury on

Excellent verses:

What did happen to the life?
Has everyone forgotten love?
Where have all the humans gone?