A Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor: Selected Poems (Lannan Literary Selections)

Desires unlived, passions unsatisfied, affections unwanted, these are the themes of Maram Al-Massri's exquisite collection of confessional poetry, "A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor." Crafted with a severe, direct language, these poems sparkle like gold flecks in a pan. Provocative and vivid, Al-Massri's poems present a rare treat for the poetry lover.Al-Massri dissects the intricate and unfathomable workings of the human heart in this collection. Moreover, she not only examines love's spiritual side but details its physical one as well. Eros is a constant thread in these poems. Sexual desire is equated with the body's need for sustenance, a sacred mandate that demands obedience. My chest swells With a longing for lust A hot loaf of bread Bitten by the teeth Of your folly.Yet, even more prevalent than desire is the voice of the vulnerable. Al-Massri gives wings to the sorrows of the spurned. Being the rejected or unwanted lover is a central theme in these poems and she saves her revenge for the pen. Like grains of salt They shone Then melted This is how they disappeared Those men Who did not love me.Al-Massri's best poems journey beyond the purely physical and examine the spiritual dimensions of loving. She is heir to an ancient tradition found in Persian love poetry and in the mystic prophets. Like sin I cling to you Never desiring salvation.Or The serpent will die When it bites me And tastes my pain.When Al-Massri mixes the spiritual with the fleshly, the results approach the sublime. Desire inflames me And my eyes glimmer I stuff morals In the nearest drawer I turn into the Devil And blindfold my angels Just for a kiss.Al-Massri's voice is one that has gone unappreciated for far too long. Thanks to Khaled Mattawa's skilled translation from the Arabic, this modern Sappho's luminous musings and metaphoric fireworks have a chance for a wider audience. At their best, Al-Massri's poems mix a heady potion of wisdom and beauty. A sparrow dies in my hands. It is no longer warm and soft. No thoughts occupy it now and no dreams. It dies like a day without love.

The most touching poems in the Universe - Amazing simplicity, honesty, and tenderness from an angel.

marvelous poems!

A couple years ago after sending in the customer reply card from a previous Copper Canyon Press book, I began receiving their good old-fashioned mailed newsletter. Inside one of those was a snip from A Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor. The snip intrigued me. I found more from Maram Al-Massri on the Copper Canyon site. That was enough. I bought the book.Unlike previous poets I've reviewed, like  Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan  and  The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde , Maram writes nothing of politics, social issues or larger world events. All of these poems are deeply personal laments on the interactions between women and men. Starkly sexual but not perverse or voyeuristic, the pain of love and betrayal, of using or being used, of wondering what has passed you by and why you let it pass by; there's much to absorb even when the poems themselves are often short.I've had the book for a year or so and always found it to be quite intense and visceral. There's a certain aspect to the human condition that Maram is brilliant at portraying. The book has taken on new meanings for me now that a turn of events has made me feel like I'm living some of these poems. Wait. The meanings are the same, it's just that now they're closer to my life.Quick Note: This book is selected poems from I Look To You as well as being all (or not, I don't know) of a previous printing of A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor originally released by another press.Our world is a strange one. We're taught that lines between genders, countries, cultures, orientations, etc... are supposed to somehow define us, our feelings or our place in the world, yet here's a Syrian woman who absolutely nails the life, feelings and regrets of a white American guy right now. Maram is a master.

Byline: Subterranean Blue Poetry [...]Title of Book: A Red Cherry on a White-tiled FloorAuthor: Maram Al-MassriPublisher: Copper Canyon PressDate of Publication: 1997Pages: 147“The moon is therefor us to sharebut where are you?”- from Full Moon and Empty Arms by Frank Sinatra/Bob DylanA Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor, classic love poetry as the story of a woman’s passion, passion found, passion lost, the rekindling of fire on the soul. Maram Al-Massri is a Syrian Poet who has been living in Paris since 1984. She writes in Arabic as well as being fluent in French and English. She has written more than 16 books of poetry, her work has been translated into Italian, French, Albanian, Spanish, Serbian and she has won international prizes.This poetry is a celebration of the feminine, the Syrian goddess as Poet, as Muse. She is influenced by the tradition of Arabic love poetry and the West, opposing forces in the crucible that overcome suffering to flower into opus. For many years she had to cut off contact with friends and family in Syria, “my freedom is so difficult and so desired. I suffered for it so much . . . sex and love are linked in my opinion. They are a search for freedom.” The traditional Muslim culture, severely circumvents female autonomy, sometimes women are not permitted to work outside the home, not allowed to drive cars, not allowed to wear Western clothing, it may be difficult to meet your Starcrossed Lover, but this may be changing through the healing power of women.The poetry is presented in Arabic and English, the Arabic hieroglyphs like secret incantations, hiding their mystery, to be revealed fully across the page in English. A very good translation. The Poet is the beautiful, vulnerable Muse who falls and then soars like the bird in blue in her poetic climes, the pain and sorrow of the dance of love recreated into an offering where the Muse never loses her voice, her beauty, the goddess inviolate. A Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor explores a marriage that has died and the passion of a new lover, that also flounders, unleashes the hell of disaster of a broken covenant in blue poetry. The poetry itself is delivered in short, spare lines reminiscent of the post-modern war zone, love. Inside the enigmatic, profound presentation of juxtapositions of people is a very grave truthtelling, an unveiling of the treason of lost and found lovers. Iconic love poetry, someone filling in the space between with an edible feast of love poems.38 He fixes his memorieswith small lead pinson the wallsof his roomto dry them.Picturesflowerskissesand the scent of love.They all look at himwith eyes full of tender gratitudebecause he made themeternal,almost eternal.68 A windowhalf openhalf closed.A windowhalf coveredhalf uncovered.A windowhalf lithalf darkfacing a wallfacing a gardena streetgrassasphaltfacing blackfacing green.The window of love.This Writer gathers Maram Al-Masri’s poems like pearls on a string to be hung amongst roses, all the beauty and sorrow, all in one place, out of the rain. A Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor, iconic New Age love poetry by Maram Al-Masri.

Excellent and daring !