MINING A FAITH

My language tells me all I know
That for every name, is a contour 
To the beginning of it's origin

That God breathe into souls
I pushed in fears, oxygenate prayers
And dioxidize glory in a carbonated poem

That to back my country
Is to lick lips of men with juicy curses 
My head stocking valleys of grieving

That heaven is full of lovers
The sun adores moon 
Like how lord sweeten kids
For men are riot gods
Men fighting peace to how stars looked peaceful

That for in a second a trumpet plays
We will all melt into sands gone
And  there be a holy poem to recite 

That for every angel's letter 
Is an acquaintance of either of two postal stamps
YOUR RIGHT HAND?
Everything in right means good to go

YOUR LEFT HAND?
There are more classes after learning red.
Your body deceives you

DANGEROUS ZONE
The address being located at the street in your spine

My language tells me all I know
That everything invisible isn't God
God is always beautiful when you close your eyes looking into his.

Aliyu Umar Muhammad is an 18 years old Nigerian writer, poet, spoken word artist and a member of Hill Top Creative Arts Foundation, TYNSWA and Guided Minds Initiatives. His works are published and forth coming on: Kalahari review, pine cone review, open doors magazine and elsewhere.

the eyes of jumpsuit elvis
 
you can see the road
glisten with the rain
through the cheap
blinds
 
you swear the last
ten years of your
life have been lived
with one foot stuck
in the fucking grave
 
a woman once told
me i had the eyes
of jumpsuit elvis
 
i laughed hard
and whispered that
means i'm still the
fucking king baby
 
she didn't take that
as i was hoping she
would
 
that fine line of
arrogance and
confidence has
been tripped over
by many drunk
fuckers
 
and this isn't the
first night i have
worn cheap alcohol
 
that's why you never
wear the good flannel
in a place like this
---------------------------------------------------------
reminding the clueless
 
there's his old
guitar
 
all the blood and
sweat of a genius
soaked into that
old wood
 
strings nothing
but rust now
 
the demons walk
these streets at
night reminding
the clueless what
this place used to
be
 
some people
consume
nostalgia by
the spoon
 
others prefer
a damn shovel
 
the lost souls like
to go down to the
river and see which
brave fucker can
make it across
 
they have pulled
up three bodies
so far this week
-----------------------------------------------
one of the youngest ones here
 
the smell
of ointment
and decay
 
must be
tuesday
in the
waiting
room
 
my mother
is one of the
youngest
ones here
 
these other
ones are
hanging on
because no
one ever told
them it's okay
to fucking die
 
the one thing
i can guarantee
 
i will not be
one of those
miserable
fucks
--------------------------------------------
avoid any and all mirrors
 
snow in the
middle of
april
 
arthritis has
me on the
brink of
deciding
death is a
much better
place
 
the i love
yous are few
and far between
these days
 
embrace the
pain and avoid
any and all
mirrors
 
that man has
lost all hope
-------------------------------------------------------
from these suburbs
 
thoughts of murder
dance in the lost
souls of children
way too young to
know what it truly
means to lose
anything
 
but it's way too
comfortable from
these suburbs
 
to think anyone
understands life
on the streets like
the ones trapped
in that fucking
war

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is stuck in the suburbs, plotting his escape. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Horror Sleaze Trash, The Black Shamrock, The Beatnik Cowboy, The Rye Whiskey Review and Yellow Mama. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)

Death is the Best Art


Death is not the end of all
Rather it fails to break life's wall
It is the media of transfer
That flies us so far
It is the beginning of mystery 
That reflects personal history
Life will kill death forever 
Death will not be visitor any where 
We will be the permanent guest
The King of death and life will listen request
The world will be without boundary 
Endless life will be first mandatory 

Death is the best art
Which always dances in my heart
It is truth and beauty
Work hard and perform duty 

we are living in  truth and death
It is our power's beneath. 

Itches

There are harmless ones, tingles that dislodge your hand so you can run your nails into your hair and along your scalp, up and down, once, twice, and that’s all it takes.

There are elusive ones, beckoning from somewhere on your back that you can’t reach and you can’t find, so you contort your elbow and slide your thumbnail across the vicinity, over and over, leaving angry red lines that you won’t notice until later, when a hot shower ignites them and you crane your neck to see what you’ve done.

There are flirtatious ones, a tickle here and then there, along your ribcage, on the side of your knee, behind your ear. Fickle ones that vanish moments after they emerged, not committed enough to stay.

There are latent ones, absent until you caress the area, tease out the ghost. Then you can scratch or press or rub, as you would with any other itch, all the while knowing that the need wasn’t truly there.

There are urgent ones. Sirens that lure your fingertips, masochists that want the pain your nails offer. You slip them over the bumpy surface. You dig their edges into the core of the call, and you know you shouldn’t, but you can’t stop, and you lose yourself in the scraping, the grating, the ecstasy of what feels like relief but is really the plea for more.

Susan Hodara is a journalist, memoirist and educator. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Communication Arts, and more. Her short memoirs are published in assorted anthologies and literary journals, including River Teeth, Feed and Airplane Reading. She is one of four co-authors of the collaborative memoir “Still Here Thinking of You: A Second Chance With Our Mothers” (Big Table Publishing, 2013). She has taught memoir writing at the Hudson Valley Writers Center for many years. More at www.susanhodara.com.

The Music Dark Knight Rises

Conversations with Egyptian Music Producer Loay (D.A.R.KK_)

Loay or, as he calls himself, D.A.R.KK

It was summer. I always discovered music through the long summery nights, when I’m wearing as little as possible, ice cream keeps my fingers sticky, and new tunes flow into my stream of consciousness, interrupting my train of thought.

It was summer when I first heard this mashup, this remix. I was aware of the Egyptian rap scene bursting with liveliness, angry music, and young men exploding with expletives, brokenness, and an unexpected fragility talking about everything from drugs to betrayals, sex, getting wasted, and of course, being unbeatable gangsters with stacks of cash and everything at their disposal.

Many names stood out. It started with fellow Alexandrian Marwan Pablo, then -again- fellow Alexandrian Wegz, and the names kept rolling, like mollies on a tongue. There was the mysterious Lege-Cy, Marwan Moussa who was the typical Eminem-like rapper, the more chill drug-hazed Abo El Anwar, and the gritty Moscow with street cred and a bite. Too many Alexandrian rappers, is that a coincidence?

“I am from Madinet Nasr in Cairo, there are a lot of Alexandrian rappers because rap songs revolve in so many ways about the sense of belonging and brotherhood, and that’s something crucial in the lives of people from Alexandria. But it’s important in young men’s lives in general, this invisible bond of belonging and backing each other up, which is in multiple rap and trap tracks.

Then there were talented, young music producers, working their magic with song mixes, remixes, and mashes. That was when I heard “Layali Aloomek” or -literally- “Nights I Blame You” for the first time, a remix that rocked Egyptian summers in 2022. As I dug deeper, I discovered the young prodigy behind it; Loay or, as he calls himself, D.A.R.KK.

Layali Aloomek – Remixed by D.A.R.KK, mixing “Layali” by Marwan Pablo and “Aloomek” by Marwan Moussa

D.A.R.KK is a 19-year-old Egyptian man who loves what’s new in everything, technology, the music scene, travel, etc. He loves to stray from the norm and discover new places, seeks new experiences at the core of his existence, and takes risks. He created his alter ego D.A.R.KK as a reflection of his real self but within the world of music where he found his true passion ever since he was a kid.

There was something about “Nights I Blame You”, the incorrect structure of his wording in which he just stuck both titles of the original songs: “Layali – Nights” by Marwan Pablo and “Aloomek – I Blame You” by Marwan Moussa. Both songs couldn’t be more different as both rappers had a distinctive style. Instead of calling the song “I blame you night and day” or “For Nights I’ve Been Blaming you” to make the remix more coherent, D.A.R.KK simply called “Nights I Blame You” so that listeners wonder; who is he blaming exactly. The nights, the girl, or maybe someone else?

“It all started when I was a kid, I would use anything at my disposal to create a rhythm. This lasted until 2015 when I became interested in knowing how this magical thing “music” works. I wanted to teach myself so I researched on YouTube until I discovered Fl Studio and started making experimental beats in 2018. The turning point came in 2020 when I started uploading my music on YouTube and found unexpected positive feedback. I wanted a change so I made uploading my tracks something that I do regularly.”

Aloomek by Marwan Moussa

It was like Pandora’s box, but what came out wasn’t all the evil and pain in the world, but a mix of feelings, pains, and different forms of expressing infatuation and arousal. These young boys talked about being in love like nobody else, whether it was Db Gad, who wanted to take his girl to Alexandria through the ghettos and show her the inner-city, to Lege-Cy professing his love to his girl as her fiery flames burned his insides. He melts, and betadine cannot disinfect his wounds, infected by her love.

These two songs were different. Moussa’s “Aloomek” was a double-edged blame game between two toxic people, a relationship on equal grounds where two lovers played Russian roulette. But “Layali” was typical Marwan Pablo, an Alexandrian rapper whose poetry always expresses fragile masculinity, Gen Z sense of dissociative identity, and a burden of a man whose surroundings force him to be tough but his artistic self softens him against his will. Moussa talked about a lover who was the drug to his senses and making out on the roof with a bottle of Havana Club and Goose vodka. Pablo talked about offering his love to the fair maiden, his lady, and someone with whom he can be a knight, taking care of her and protecting her from the world. With his remix, the song seemed like an extended inner monologue by a man burdened by darkness and passionate for the woman who haunted his nights.

Layali by Marwan Pablo

They are two distinct worlds that couldn’t be more alienating to each other. But his boldness and musical talent led D.A.R.KK to create a song that somehow seemed genuine and truthful.

“Since I was little, I listened to a myriad of genres, but as the music progressed in the 2010s, I found myself leaning toward genres such as trap, R&B, and hip hop, I was constantly inspired by various artists whether Egyptian or from other parts of the world. I am the kind of person who gets stuck listening to one track on a loop, so the idea wasn’t new to me. I could make a remix for a track I originally loved and try to reach the same vibe through an enhanced technique. My aim was always that the cover track would surpass the original and find its way into the original fans’ playlist.

With [Layali Aloomek] I was already hooked up on the Marwan Moussa Aloomek track and it was on repeat constantly in my playlist so I wanted to create a remix that included Pablo’s track with it using a Lo-fi beat. And I released it and found that audiences loved my track.”

People didn’t just love D.A.R.KK’s track, they devoured it. The track has reached 200k views on YouTube and D.A.R.KK has 30k monthly listeners on Spotify. The young man has since made multiple other remixes but somehow, Layali Aloomek overshadows everything else he has done.

“This was unexpected and it only proved that if you made something unique that you are truly passionate about you would reach your dreams.”

I had to ask the young man about the creative process and how long it takes to make one track,

“I have a musical ear, and for every track, I have to understand the tempo and the key before I start working on it. As soon as I find two tracks with the same key and tempo, I separate the vocals, then put them in a project, finally I build up the melody on the vocals, then drums, and so forth, until I have my track ready.”

Pablo has been the most used artist in D.A.R.KK’s music world, with his tracks being the ones most used in remixes and such, I had to ask him what he found unique about the 27-year-old Alexandrian rapper,

“When I use a certain artist’s songs for remixes a couple of times, his tracks put me through a Sufi trance of sorts. I’m just like a lot of other guys, I listen to Pablo and I try to measure every track on its own, some tracks cannot be remade, remixed, or covered. Some tracks can be standalone in the remix. Pablo’s tracks can have chemistry with many other artists.”

Intrigued by his description of music as Sufi tracks, I asked D.A.R.KK about other artists to whom he reacts similarly,

“Most young men my age listen to rappers because we are from the same age group. We have gone through similar experiences and hardships. They write exactly how they feel, and correlate with things happening in our lives. They are unlike other musicians from years before. That’s why I don’t listen to older music because even if I like something old, I prefer to remix it and create something new out of it.

Haunting has been a word that came to mind ever since watching Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in 2022. Austin Butler’s voice and eyes haunted me as he stared down at the audience or played tunes on his piano in a dark room. “Layali Aloomek” haunted me with its ethereal qualities and reverberating sounds. I asked D.A.R.KK if he believed some songs were haunting and others were not,

“I believe in that. Whenever I listen to a track, I tie it to the time and place I am in at this stage in my life. It becomes connected with this particular moment. So that if I listen to it later, it immediately transforms me to this stage in my life.”

D.A.R.KK dreams of collaborating with one of his favorite artists. He wants to create a different wave as a music producer, synergistically meshing his talent as a music producer with the artists to create a sound unheard of before. His interest in songs surpassed a musical fascination and hit deep into the themes and elements that shape the current musical scene in general, truth was something that he highly valued,

“Guys my age love rap and trap because the artist writes their songs, it’s unlike other mainstream [Arabic] songs with all due respect where you don’t feel the truth of the singer. I am not convinced when an artist writes about pain or injustice when he’s living a completely different life of luxury. I can’t listen to something that I don’t believe in. Not to mention that other Arab singers only showcase the bright side of their lives, and they also sing it, unlike rappers who are so open and bring you into the heart of their experiences, good or bad, so that means with other singers, I’ll only listen to you if I’m in a good mood, but they can’t sell me their music otherwise.

The real world is not as beautiful as Amr Diab or Tamer Hosny -two veteran Egyptian pop singers- paint it out to be. Rappers do that for us. They sing our feelings, express our anger and frustration, our pain. We’ve all been through the same but they just know how to express it poetically.”

Poetry takes so many shapes and forms, if Bob Dylan is one of the contemporary poets, then I don’t see how Tupac and Eminem cannot be considered the same. And if this applies to the West, then why not consider Pablo, Wegz, Moussa, and other contemporary poets but their street language and gritty expressions of modern-day life can be their gospels.

We rode
      the same storm cloud 
                           together 

and  the Draft caught 
        your guard down 
              when I resisted 
                    the fullness 
                         of the moment 

 I   LOVE  Ours

        It  is  who  We  are
&  I am  still  in  the  Dark 
      entering  the Light 
as   is   often   our   path 

       and 

I'm  included in our happiness 

      that Absolute closure will 
Always  Leave  some feet
                 in the door 

Like  We need more Sales people 

           I  guess 
              that's  why 
                   it  never ends 

The Future always knocks at
                   the door 

        and   if    I   resist 
              the  hinge pins  Lift

                            fall  to  the  floor 

          I  am  convinced 
          My Locks can't stop 
                  What I feel inside 

Let the winds carry 

                I  see   that

    &  that   is new   to me.

                thank you 

                •     •     •
We rode
      the same storm cloud 
                          together 
&  Like  one  droplet  of  water 
Breaks the stunning Light 

turned to drain its brilliant Breath 
                 to say   hello  with colors

     I  can  carry  the  moment 
                      in  my  heart 
          to see only the future 
                where  I AM
                     always rising 




by  John Edward Culp 
          January 4, 2020
                ♡