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Building Fires

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a poet, so I could feel less. To put out fires that catch my sleeve, where the heart is exhausted from burning. And here we are, another year on the brink of being over. For me, it felt like a decade. A thousand possibilities, some of which I wish hadContinue reading “Building Fires”

Full Circles

September is upon us. The humid days of summer are over, evenings are getting cooler, and the leaves are beginning to turn. While many mourn the end of summer, I look forward to the productive days of autumn. The blaze of colours, the busyness of the school season, the crunch of leaves underfoot. It signifiesContinue reading “Full Circles”

Poetry lives on

All the poet can do today is warn. That is why true poets must be truthful. -Wilfried Owen What a month it has been. We may dedicate one month to celebrating poets and poetry, but for poets, as Mary Oliver puts it, “poetry is a way of life.” What does it mean for poetry toContinue reading “Poetry lives on”

Cataloguing the Heart

There is nothing more magical than the dappled sunlight of a 50+ year old garden. When I visited Kenya in January, I catalogued the plants, flowers, trees and birds in the garden of my mother’s childhood home, and identified over 40 unique species and varieties. There is so much biodiversity in our little corner ofContinue reading “Cataloguing the Heart”

Another year, another journey

When I was in school, I was the kid all the teachers described as “bright, has potential, but doesn’t apply herself.” They looked at me in disbelief– they knew I was capable, but I chose to rebel, to fight, to resist, to choose NOT to do the work. I thought I had moved beyond thisContinue reading “Another year, another journey”

Recover

It’s very easy and sometimes preferred to pretend that we’re brave and fearless, especially in an instagrammable world that values perfect squares of perfect lives. There are no squares big enough to encompass this experience, this pain, this journey, this fear. I had the messy job of confronting my fear. Confront, not conquer. I had to show up *while* being afraid.

Forest Dreams: New Music Video!

Here’s a magical look at my mandala-making process, and some of the locales and landscapes that have inspired my work thus far. The original track, “Forest Dreams” was produced by me (Sheniz Janmohamed) as well. Enjoy!

Summer Magic

The sorting of stones, the sun catching a glint, the piling of rocks that keep collapsing under the weight of each other, starting again, searching for more stones, people watching me at a safe distance, the final pebble placed, the sigh, the walking away. Summer magic is in capturing imperfect moments and finding theirContinue reading “Summer Magic”

Return to Spring

Ah, March. This strange month of snowstorms and snowdrops. Days that look deceivingly warm. Promises of spring. In winter, I tend to close myself off and shut off from the world. I turn inward, and find comfort in little joys- whether it’s a cup of tea or a pair of warm socks. This winter hasContinue reading “Return to Spring”

Dreaming in January

January. A frigid winter evening, where the only respite is a glimmer of sunlight clinging to the horizon. A time to reflect, plan and reconnect. In some ways it feels exactly the same as it did a few days ago– when it was 2017. The wind is still bitterly cold, the ground is still heapedContinue reading “Dreaming in January”