CompleteWord

This blog is about the surprise and delight of word-sharing  and women’s empowerment. [The on-line thesaurus asks me if I mean employment; suggests implement, and impediment, since apparently, "empowerment" has taken a leave of absence or was fired. ]

<> Monkfish Books just sent me their contract for Married to Muhammad: anticipated publishing date is April, 2010. I’m appreciative that I have a publisher. I’m celebrating.

<> My poetry class finished. Another will start in the fall as part of  Public Programs at CIIS,  San Francisco. More information to follow.

<>I will be in London in the middle of June and  then I’ll teach at teaching at the Pan-European Ruhaniat Summer School – Proitzer Muhle, Germany, from June 27  to July 4, 2009. I’ll be talking about unfolding the lives of some of the women married to Prophet Muhammad. Some of my poetry is being translated into German for this occasion. The theme of the gathering is Embracing Life as the Teacher. For more information: http://www.ruhaniateurope.org/SummerSchool2009.htm

<>     <>     <>     <>     <>    <>     <>     <>     <>     <>     <>     <>     <>     <>     <>

I’ve been teaching a week-long poetry class for more than 5 years at our Annual Sufi gathering in Mendocino. The aim is to encourage poets and writers to use contemporary language and the experience of the senses to tell the unique stories and observations we gather,  that are metaphors for our shared humanity in this time and place. Each of us can bring in a phrase like Kevin Young’s words: You are the chewing gum of God. [I wish I'd said that! ] It takes concentration mixed with a kind of lazy disinterest – like fishing. And you need to land the phrase when you get that bite.

The poets who have helped me probe and celebrate the mysteries of the poem are, Naomi Shihab Nye, Fred Chappell, W.S. Merwin, Jane Hirshfield, Heather McHugh, Mark Doty, and Coleman Barks. These are poets I have sat with and questioned. My credentials are a strong love of words, and the willingness to communicate that in as many ways as I can imagine. Also Sarah Lawrence College, Stanford University, and San Francisco State University each gave me a push. I have just completed the poetry issue of The Sound, which will have a presence here on this blog very soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This blog is about saying the right phrases in Syria, having good fortune in India, mixing Mecca-Medina with Texarkana, demystifying some women who lived  at the beginning of the seventh century in Arabia and Abysssinia.  And it’s about my journey from book ideas into a manuscript.

And it’s about Married to Muhammad:

If there is a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. Toni Morrison

For almost a decade I have felt a growing mandate to demystify the women married to Muhammad. At this time, more than ever, we need to know about the cultural origins of our sisters on the other side of the globe. These untranslated women, who stood in the first light of Islam, have buried stories. Here are several: Khadija is a wealthy businesswoman who hires young Muhammad; Hafsa is saved from divorce by Angel Gabriel, Zaynab, a married first cousin, experiences a moment of passion with Muhammad, Umm Salama saves a vital peace treaty and Aisha tells of death of the Prophet. These are stories known in the Arab-speaking world. My book of poems and history is called Married to Muhammad: Untold History of the Prophet’s Wives. I am fortunate to have good resources: rudimentary Qu’ranic Arabic study; scholarly guidance, travel in the Middle East, and three decades as a seeker on the path of American Sufism.

The project was conceived after an inspired time with Moroccan Sufi women, sharing their bold, joyful gatherings. I began to research the Prophet’s wives, and was drawn into the historically based poem. I respectfully endeavor to glimpse and share the lives of these amazing and powerful women who witnessed Muhammad’s daily life at a time when “Islam” meant peaceful surrender of one’s heart to God.

<>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>   <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>