Jewels of the Heart

By Hiam Gosaynie

Jewels of the Heart by Hiam Gosaynie is a book of poems that describes myriad feelings and life experiences that every heart has inevitably been through in some form. These experiences both enrich and change us as we wade waist-deep into the unpredictable waves of love; wonder about the universe; deal with illness, aging parents, and death; gamely plot our course in the labyrinth of life; and finally seek peace, solace and spiritual renewal as well as healing when we face our most terrifying fears. We triumphantly emerge bruised but wiser and stronger on the other side: these are the jewels of every heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475940282

Hiam Gosaynie

Hiam Kalel Gosaynie, a first-generation Arab-American poet and an English as a Second Language (ESL) secondary teacher in Dearborn, Michigan for 21 years, has been devoted to teaching students of diverse cultures, and writing poetry and stories. Since she was a young girl in the town of her birth—Saginaw—in Mrs. Becker’s 7th grade English class, as well as Mr. Thibadeau, her 10th grade English teacher, both of whom inspired Hiam to become a teacher, she has dreamed of changing lives with knowledge and the written word. She is a graduate of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, where she earned her B.A. in English literature in 1983, Saginaw Valley State University, and Wayne State University, where she received an M.A. in Education, in 1996. Moreover, Hiam has continued to be fascinated by languages, different cultures and traditions, and the beauty of word (in songs, music and poetry) which express the subtle nuances of divinity within the soul—bridging the gap among cultures and races—and giving us all more tolerance, understanding, and love for each other and for life.

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Copyright © 2012 Hiam Gosaynie

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4027-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4028-2 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 10/9/2012

CONTENTS

PART I: Early Love’s Promise

Angels

Especially for You

Lakeside Kiss

Let’s Swing!

Lobster Sun-Bake

Love 101

Lovely in Your Eyes

Nights of Arabia and Beyond

Snowdrop Kiss

Summer’s Song

Two Halves, Not a Whole

Wind’s Song

PART II: Passages in Life

After Surgery

Beliefs: Coming Full Circle

Circles of Life

Confidently Speaking

Dexterously Yours

Eve’s Garden

Female Fatality

Freedom is …

Good Grief!

Hats Off to You!

I Believe …

In My Dreams

Isolation

Isolation—II

Letters from the Heart

My Prayer

Portal View

Reflections of Me in Onion Time

Reflections on the Ides of March

Summer’s Winsome Ways

The Spices of Life

The Wailing of the Wall

What’s Life?

Why Is Life So Complicated?

PART III: Special Ones

A Vision of Her

Audrey’s Song

Dad: A Celebration of You

Daddy

Ellen’s Hands

Farewell to an Armed One

For Jim

Hello and Good-bye

Into the Deep

Jasmine Nights

Ken: A Special Boy in a Special Class

Lamees: A Girl I Once Knew

Mother

Noor: 2006

Noor, the Light of Life

Raspberry Time

She Isn’t There! She Isn’t There! She Isn’t There!

The Song of You

The Tending

Unbreakable Bonds

Up and Away

PART IV: Nature’s Power and Beauty

Calico Dreams

Cleopatra’s Cat

Fire Dragons in our Gardens

Geese in Flight

Red Poppies

Race for Glory

Tigerlily

PART V: Mystic Passages of the Soul

A Deeper Dimension

A Walk through Time

Do You Believe?

Keys to the Heart

What’s in a Name?

Keys, please …

Keys II

Mirror, Mirror—The Plainest Truth of All

Open Space

Seeds of Life

The Procession

The Courage to Be Me!

The Mosaic Lines of Life

Through a Purple Hazy Blaze

To Be … or Not

To Be (Continued)

To Be Continued…Again

To the Future and Back to the Past

PART VI: Love: Later Blossoming

The Naked Truth

All Things Good

Ceremony of Love: An Ending

Deconstruction

Forgotten Love?

Heart–Locked Locket

I Promise You …

Jump-Start My Heart

Kerosene Sky

Knit Our Hearts

Let the Bonfire Burn

Let the Dance Begin!

Matters of the Heart

Out of Time (Time Out!)

Pirates I, II, III

You

Jewels of the Heart

Glossary Of Terms

To my inspiring

mother and father

with love and gratitude

to my nephew,

my computer muse

PART I:

Early Love’s Promise

Angels

Angels, angels,

way on high,

floating in an azure sky?

Angels, angels everywhere

we tread,

even in a strawberry bed.

Angels, angels everywhere

we choose to look,

human faces we often mistook.

Angels, angels,

here on Earth,

divine, yet mortal by birth.

Innocence and purity—

adorned in fleshy form—

in a subtle-salty blend, abound—

heavenly, but earthbound.

Especially for You

Did you know that you are special to someone?

That someone out there really loves you,

and cares about you?

Someone you may not even know,

or are too busy to give a glance to,

wants the best for you.

Did you know that when you send someone

a smile, it’s like sending

a telegram of love?

Did you know that a smile is like

the sun coming out from behind the clouds?

And did you ever realize that

when you really smile with your eyes,

it’s like a light shining from your soul,

that’s a multi-jeweled rainbow?

And did you ever think about the words

that come out of our mouths?

They are vibrations in the air,

whizzing through the atmosphere.

Whether positively charged to bring

about delight

or negatively loaded and guaranteed

to bring blight,

our words are missiles that impact

us, our listeners, and the stratosphere,

functioning along frequencies that we can’t even see or feel!

And did you ever know how the saying

Actions speak louder than words came to be?

It’s because actions are thoughts put in motion,

that tell the world who we are

and what we believe about life, about you and me.

And did you ever wonder why a mirror

reflects back what it sees?

Life is like a mirror,

because whatever you put out there

will be brought right back to you.

Unlike the famous movie,

The Mirror Has Two Faces,

the mirror of life has only one face,

which is the one looking in it at this time and place.

So whatever kind of day you’re having,

good, not-so-good, or bittersweet,

remember it’s what you put out there

that will result in the things you get to keep.

So, did you ever realize that you are special

and truly unique to someone?

Don’t ever forget that,

because you can pass along the sun

to make someone’s day brighter

to make their load lighter, and to forget their pain?

Their guilt, their shame, and blame? With a priceless smile.

Lakeside Kiss

Forgotten, misty

lonely, deep,

full of beauty

filled with peace—

the only sound

a swirling mist

that serenades

the lovers as they kiss—

on the lake shore.

The trees stand

as silent sentinels

who are witnesses

to their breath-stealing kiss,

as they, too, embrace

their shadow likenesses

mirrored in the lake,

where harmony abounds.

As all in nature strive

to be one,

so are the lovers lost

in their own oblivion!

As one, their lips lavish and stroke,

moist petals, kissed by dew,

which blossom with love—

that same energy

that ruffles the surface

of life’s waters.

Love plunges them down,

gasping for breath,

cleansing and cathartic,

it creates new life.

Love beckons

with arms out-flung,

with searching, soaring, silver wings

singed by the sun

(where eagles glide)

near mountaintops—

a vortex of violet vertigo

vulnerability.

The lovers’ hands hover

and anchor each other.

As the blinding mist swirls around,

the trees are invincible

as love.

And the lake murmurs soothing, silent, secret

messages of eternity and God above.

Let’s Swing!

Did you ever swing so very high,

you thought your feet would touch the sky?

You pushed so hard and felt so free,

you were sure you had wings and were carefree!

You pumped your legs while leaning way back,

to get momentum for the forward attack—

leaning far forward into the shape of a clockwise, rotated seven,

body scrunched, hands clenched—trying to reach as high as heaven!

Competing with the others on the swings’ seats,

to see who’d touch the highest tree’s leaves.

Pumping legs and kicking feet pointed skyward,

expending energy, spending hours looking upwards.

Pushing, leaning in, and then leaning back,

until the sky lost its blueness and became black.

Fun, fun, fun, and what play—

pretending we could fly all day!

High, higher, went the swing,

bliss, bliss, my heart sang!

But where has that bliss gone?

Up to the treetops where we once soared!

So, let’s all go to the park tonight,

and sit on a swing till the moon is bright—

as bright as the smile on your face,

reliving a time and a certain place

when you were happy and carefree,

and had a chance at endless possibilities!

When life was as sweet as a candy bar,

and you could make a wish