Not Yet

 Not Yet

A Modern Tanka by Ali Znaidi

A Modern Tanka by Ali Znaidi

Halloween party

is over.

Ants’ eyes glitter

through a punctured balloon.

—A used pumpkin.

Written 01/11/2014

Worm in the Bookshop by Ali Znaidi

Worm in the Bookshop

(after “Witch in the Supermarket” by Angela Topping)

There’s a worm in the bookshop over there.

She is creeping up the books searching for a lair.

She likes to hide because she doesn’t like to be used as a bait.

She is always hiding. That’s her inevitable fate.

There’s a worm in the bookshop down the street.

She is very cautious not to be trodden by the clients’ feet.

She is climbing the bookshelves searching for a refuge.

She is very astounded with all those books – tiny or huge.

There’s a worm in the bookshop next to the pub.

She is searching in the books for some hearty grub.

She is searching for nectar to quench her thirst

because for her knowledge always comes first.

Narratives will go with the wind and perish,

if writers don’t write and publishers don’t publish.

Books combat the oblivion of time’s rust;

either alive in a reader’s hand(s) or buried in a shelf’s dust.

There’s a worm in the bookshop in the city center.

She is hiding from the public glare— the eyes of the hunter.

There’s a worm in the bookshop. See! She’s devouring a book

because she likes to be considered as an intellectual (angry) kook.

Written 22 12 2013

Acned Discourse: An Experimental Short-short Story by Ali Znaidi

Acned Discourse: An Experimental Short-short Story by Ali Znaidi

Acned Discourse

________________________________________________. ___________________! ________________________? ……/……/……/…/………/………/…. __________. & the

decapitated discourse still oozes from the blocked pores of the tongues.

Written 21 12 2012

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

The thick snow looks like mayonnaise. Swallowing the pedestrians’ feet, it becomes a frigid cannibal. But, what a carnival!

26 02 2014

Euphoria: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Euphoria: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

She would prefer not to plan splendid things because she is living in a garden of marvels right now.

26 02 2014

Tunisian Desert by Ali Znaidi

Tunisian Desert

Sand soaked

in sleek satin.

Touching it

resembles

kissing

the soft

cheek

of a blonde.

Kissing it—

a paradise

unraveled/

Satan

expelled.

Written 03 03 2013 Revised 23/09/2013

pastiche by Ali Znaidi

pastiche

Mud clings to stones.

Stones cling to mud.

—Eagerness for pastiche.

Written 10 10 2013 Revised 03 04 2014

Three Short Poems by Ali Znaidi

The Shape of Inexistence

When the night comes

existence takes the shape

of inexistence for those

who have no home

but the streets’ laps,

for those who queue,

           as usual,

waiting for new sorrows,

        & above all,

for those whose morning

is not yet to come.

Written 16 10 2013

3

feathers of a crow

shine through

the empty shot glass.

—A (jailed) triptych.

Written 25/10/2013

Platonic Forms

I loved the shadows

of candles in the dark,

& I suppose

this love still persists

but in platonic forms.

Written 25/10/2013

Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon by Ali Znaidi

Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon

You think it’s sugar at the tip

of the tongue. I agree.

Sugar sketching cupcakes on the

skyscape.

A mirage yielding real water.

Asphyxiated aspirations

re-animated.

Inside my brain, broken images

spackled.

& dream tastes sweet,

though I’m still under the tip-of-the-tongue

phenomenon.

Written on 28 02 2013

Originally published in The Siren on 05 02 2014

Mother Nature by Ali Znaidi

Mother Nature

From time to time,

try to take off your shoes,

& let the hot sand

caress your bare feet.

Let them feel the touches

of the scorching grains.

Let the grains infiltrate

your veins, while you ponder.

Heal your weary psyche

w/ the sand’s aroma.

&, always remember that

Earth is too great to

let two little feet

tread on its GRANDEUR.

16 10 2013

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

They celebrated their first date in a love motel. But they didn’t know their sweat would ooze through the tabloids’ sheets by the sunrise.

26 02 2014

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Untitled: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

She fixed her glossy lipstick and aimed the beam at him. “He is not an easy prey. I had to try something else,” she said as he didn’t react.

26 02 2014

Paranoia: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Paranoia: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

Paranoid about getting older, he grows a new mint plant every morning in the garden of his decayed house.

10 02 2014

A Short Failed Marriage: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

A Short Failed Marriage: A Nano Story by Ali Znaidi

She concealed her grief under a party hat & a glittering smile in the dance floor of a nightclub.

10 02 2014

Steelwork by Ali Znaidi

Steelwork

Before landing on earth

             Adam did not forget to steal steel from hell.

He stole steel to forge bars and fabricate fortified prisons’ doors.

He stole steel to make sharp stainless swords.

He stole steel to create all kinds of manacles.

Without stealing steel Cain couldn’t kill Abel.

Without stealing steal

             tales of tortures and stories of slaughters couldn’t be written.

Without stealing steal

             anthracite wouldn’t be extracted from the underground

             & skins couldn’t be grilled.

 Without stealing steel                                         

             barbeques of grilled skins couldn’t be prepared

             to the delight of hungry cannibals.

Without stealing steal

             weapons of mass destruction

             couldn’t see the light.

But the light in Adam’s heart made him bring steel from heaven

             to till soils,

             plough fields,

             & make swords to break all kinds of manacles.

06 03 2012

Extinction by Ali Znaidi

Extinction

Another green tree

perishes—

I mean naked mountains

& plains.

Another music radio station

shuts up—

I mean a bird singing

on a bough

shot dead.

Another Juliet

perishes—

I mean a bird feeding

his lover

a venomous worm

enriched with

toxic pesticide.

23 04 2012

A Thesis by Ali Znaidi

 A Thesis by Ali Znaidi

I am pretty much anti-lengthiness and wordiness in poetry. I have a penchant for distilled and concise poems. But this does not mean straightforwardness because a poem always requires a certain degree of density.

24 01 2014

100 Magazines=100 Candles

The 100 magazines & journals which have, to date (January 7, 2014), published my poetry:

A Haiku Poem by Ali Znaidi

A Haiku Poem by Ali Znaidi

Tarry drops fell on

her calligraphic tattoos—

A blackout haiku.

Written on 17/10/2013.