We Long for Peace

No need to retrace
Previous faults or disgrace
Just look ahead and think twice
How lovely it could be nice

If we live together in one place                
 
With good grace
Show a smiling face
That fills the whole space
With a message of peace
That none dare to efface

© Chaouki M’kaddem

Why Commemorate?

Two years ago, we were the spring

We thought it would grace us lifelong

Alas, our prospects were wrong!   

Then came the summer before long

Lacking pity and insisted to prolong

Torridity and tensions till dried everything

Every party is clutching a shameful prong

To get involved in an everlasting ding-dong

So selfish that they can sell the people for a song 

I wonder why the revolution observance

While we are still waiting for its nascence

I believe patriotism is of the essence

Time to break the silence

Let’s first establish collective conscience

Let’s first spread tolerance

Let’s first forget about vengeance

Let’s first eradicate ignorance…

They are the key to our puissance

© Chaouki M’kaddem

January 14^th, 2013

Crucial Years

Dear teacher,

When it comes to teaching teenagers

Never deem them absurd or strangers

They are wandering at crossroads

And undergoing changing behaviors

To find themselves in their own sculptures



Dear teacher,

Adolescence is a developmental phase

Teens are vulnerable these crucial days

Busying themselves clearing up the haze

Relying on their own to elbow their ways

Be patient! it is but a temporarily craze



Dear Teacher,

Dealing with teens is ne’er humdrum

They are curious and adventuresome

They seek autonomy and freedom

In their kingdom you are welcome

If you understand their own anthem



Dear teacher,

Tailor your activities to engage them

Let them feel important and awesome

Evince interest in their lives and realm

Carefully, allow them to be at the helm

Together, you can indite a lovely poem

© Chaouki M’kaddem

January 12th, 2013

The Upcoming New Year

One year has already gone

Either you were in low or high cotton

Pause for a while before having fun

Ruminate on what you have done

Think of adversities or any abortion

Check the reasons behind misfortune

Learn from any defective action

And be aspirant and hopefully carry on

Think of success and attainment

Be grateful and never flamboyant

Look forward to a new achievement

To thrive and flourish again and again

Say: farewell bygone year

Hail the nascence of a new year

Wish you all the best my dear

Much joy and happy New Year

© Chaouki M’kaddem

December 26th, 2012

Dearest Friends

I can still scent the fragrance

 Of some dear unique friends

I can still feel their presence

That made my heart a residence

I am still living in the ambiance

 That overwhelmed our existence

I recall our friendship incipience

When it was a mere acquaintance

Through Facebook and profile pictures

Then flourished in love and reverence

And became the very soul of confidence

That made proof of unflagging conscience

We wilfully met at a hotel lobby entrance

Elated in the sight of our cheerful faces

Looked thirsty for more acquaintance

With each other’s personality and quintessence

We enjoyed a three-day face-to-face conference

And concurred on being nigh albeit the distance

© Chaouki M’kaddem

December 24th, 2012

Bright Night

I am a lover of the night

When its curtains hide

Every source of light,

Blacken every white,

Obstruct the eyesight,

And bring serenity and quiet

I am a lover of such a climate

As it gives way to my spirit

To reach its utmost height,

Lets my brain go bright,

And incites my thoughts to come to light

And becomes the very moment to write

© Chaouki M’kaddem

December 23rd, 2012

كُلٌّ لَهُ فُلانه

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ يُعْتَقُ و يهب حرّيته لفلان

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ يُنْهبُ قوته و يُمجّد ثراء فلان

 عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ بات ضحية ثم أصبح أداة فلان

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ جعل من نفسه لنفسه عدوا لإرضاء فلان

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ تنكَّر لمُقدّساته ليعبد فلان

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ فقد إنسانيته لِيُدجِّنَه فلان

عَجَبِي من شَعْبٍ إتخذ أفراده كُلًّ لنفسه فلان

ألم يحن الوقت كي نَنْبُذ فلان و نجعله طيّ النسيان

ونجعل همّنا الأوحد حب الوطن مهما تغيّر الزمان؟

© شوقي المقدم 

December 11, 2012

World Cultures Within Kids’ Reach

Dear language teacher,
Young learners are known for malleability 
And zeal to quench their curiosity
So as to grasp life aspects and any novelty
Why not seize such a golden opportunity
And make their future free from hostility?

Dear language teacher,
It is mainly your responsibility
To offer young learners the immunity
To stereotypes, prejudice and bigotry 
By exposing them to a selected variety
Of other people’s culture and society

Dear language teacher,
Enrich every class with an extra activity
About cultural aspects of a different community
Be careful! Select your items with sincerity
And mind those concealing duplicity
To avoid any backfire or tendency to animosity

Dear language teacher,
When it comes to techniques and methodology
Do some readings to broaden your creativity
Then adjust them to match learner specificity
Make use of twenty-first century technology
To manage motivating hands-on activity

© Chaouki M’kaddem

October 4^th, 2012

A Misleading Innocence

Some nonentities were looking for solace
And found it in priding themselves on insolence
Toward the Prophet and a massive  populace
On the pretext of freedom and spontaneous innocence
Anyone with little discernment can detect their malice

In short order, they spread such contemptuous rudeness
And made it a new trend and of frequent occurance
To inflame people's emotions and increase their sufferance
And push the credulous to revulsion and violence
Just to satisfy the interests of people of consequence

I wonder, how can a spiteful fiend preach tolerance?
I wonder, how to be caught red-handed and claim innocence?
I wonder, how to prick people and impose silence?
I wonder, how to be corrupt and have conscience?
I wonder, how to support flagrant miscarriage of justice?

Hey! None of your pictures, words or movies
Can diminish the Prophet's brilliance
Nor make anyone of you a genius
Refine your creativity for the sake of peace
And remember: buttocks never release a masterpiece.

© Chaouki Mkaddem
September 22, 2012