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  excerpt from  Damascus amid the War  (M. Imady) --     Pre-war Poems 1-10 1. Spring Cleaning                                           Secretly,                                           I tiptoed into                                           The dark chambers                                            Of my heart,       Swept away the grief and sorrow,     Scrubbed the bad memories out,                                            Opened up the windows                                            And let in the sunlight. ***   2. A Thought It slipped through my fingers Fell on the ground - I heard its cry echo in my mind- Desperately, On knees and elbows I searched for it all day But the thought Had faded away.   **       3. Last Dance Politely, I bowed to my cares And asked them for a dance. Joyfully … I swung my arms around them And danced them away. ***   4. New Hair Style Feverishly mad I unbraid my worries

  Today's fortune cookie is associated with Damascus amid the War by Mona Imady . For more posts about this book and its author, click  HERE . For more posts about the Middle East, click HERE                                    This book is on discounted sale at the  MSI Press webstore . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .    

  excerpt from Damascus amid the War (M. Imady) --              Commentary   In Muna Imady’s writing we witness a kind of devolution from poetry that was filled with vivid imagery and striking metaphors to that which was made to carry words of the brutality of war. Stripped of Muna’s imaginative, powerful, evocative language, her poetry becomes savagely direct, honest to the point of shocking readers with its transformation.   The world of Muna’s early poetry has become broken, brutalized, burned, and bombed. With it, Muna’s heart is broken; her imagination has been filled with what is dark and laden with grief. The simplicity of most of the war poems, when compared with those of her pre-war output give readers a stark reminder of the effects of war in ways that the news cannot. War breaks people and it transforms artistry into something it was never meant to be, painting a picture in words of the way the human spirit can be crushed, the way poetry becomes reportage. The poetry that h

  \ Excerpt from Damascus amid the War Ramadan Ramadan this year passes With no colorful lanterns Lighting up the holy nights in Cairo, No ziker 7 breaking the silence of The sacred Damascene nights. Baghdad stores are closed, Streets of Tripoli are empty, Gaza is under attack, Iraq is in flames. The World takes a nap While the Arabs Argue over who should have won The World Cup matches.                                                             7.20.2014 ***   No water, no electricity, no coffee!   So I decide to wander around the city.   As I pass our neighbor’s door, I hear the wind whistle through the key hole.   The door rattles as if it suddenly woke up from a rosy dream and realized its inhabitants have disappeared forever.                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .  

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Released today, Damascus amid the War by Muna Imady, author of Syrian Folktales .    For more information about Muna and her books, click HERE .

First review of Damascus amid the War by Muna Imady has appeared -- on Library Thing ! "touching and poignant" "well worth the read" Read more about Muna Imady and her books HERE .

Daybreak Press has published Kan Ya Ma Kan , a new book Muna Imady. Kan Ya Ma Kan is a labor of love and fidelity to the ancient tradition of oral storytelling in Muna Imady’s beloved Syria.  This collection of stories, recipes, games, songs and wisdom meticulously and fervently collected is a gift of love from Muna.  Muna persevered through illness to ensure that these stories and traditions would be preserved despite the war that has scattered Syria’s peoples like seeds throughout the world. Elaine and Susan birthed Muna’s words into the world  to ensure that present and future generations will hear the stories that Muna learned at the feet of her Tete, and collected from the generous people of Syria.     The stories depict clever, resilient and resourceful characters written in a style that lends itself to read alouds in a classroom or library setting.  The bold illustrations are reminiscent of Ed Emberly’s early wood-cuts.  These stories are not whitewashed or sanitized - true

Poems and stories from before the war in Syria and during the war by a Damascene experiencing the war first-hand. The pre-war poetry reflects the rich and joyful life that exsited then, and the poems and stories written later reflect the starkness and fearfullness of life that now surrounds Damascus and its inhabitants. Muna is also author of the beloeved book, Syrian Folktales (available at our webstore and other stores).   Damascus amid the War is available now on pre-order from: Amazon MSI Press (use code FF25 for a 25% discount)