An Israeli in our van said the bridge’s construction has been adding to the traffic congestion in the city, but the train is supposed to alleviate inter-city congestion (eventually).

However there is a place in the Vatican line up for artists who produce work which gives a spiritual message without being tied to a specific belief system. This may be a more fruitful area for the Pope to examine.

For a lot of artists, producing their work is an expression of their spiritual side. Some use it as a technique to contact their spiritual nature and in the process produce their work. Often this work is abstract but if you can ‘get into’ the work you can get a glimpse of the journey the artist undertook while producing the piece.

For me producing art is a method of sharing spiritual insights in a visual form. I don’t consider my work to be of a particular religion or promoting any particular philosophy and I believe it is the same for a lot of other artists. We produce ‘spiritual art’ because it is our mission in life and what we feel a need to share our vision.

The Vatican has a vast pool of artists to choose from but I’m not sure they will find them if the look to the ‘world-famous’ artists club.

*Ed P

I was thinking of more of a p’shat, simple approach. The egg is yelling:
“Get thee to the mikvah, milady, so you will be at your best for pru ‘u revu.” (fertilizing the egg)

I think I need a commentary to understand this art.

Imagine a world in which artists don’t sign their artwork. A world in which the art is produced as a focus for spiritual contemplation, where the goal of the artist as well as the person viewing the art isn’t simply enjoyment, religious awe, intellectual provocation or any of the other various reasons for creating a work of art, but because the desired goal is enlightenment, “liberation through beholding.” This is the world in which the Tibetan Buddhist thangkas have been created for centuries.

Hopefully, this will help people to better understand art within the framework of the Tibetan Buddhist perspective.

I welcome Hayan Charara’s INCLINED TO SPEAK as a major anthology by a leading poet. I feel honored to be included in this work. Developed over many years, it witnesses the judicious and respectful dedication of the compiler. The collection has breadth as well as depth, reminding us of brilliant poets who may not have received their just due, while it introduces us to promising voices of great talent. Charara and his publisher should receive our grateful kudos for the quality of the poetry, and for its span of diversity which underlies the “Americanness” of Arab American poets.

The interview itself is fascinating. Though meditative and deliberate, Charara is not afraid to think aloud. He avoids dogmatic pronouncements. Thank you for providing this opportunity to share his useful insights with us.

Sincerely,
D. H. Melhem, Ph.D.
www.dhmelhem.com

Dear Mr. Wecker:
Recently, I came across your review in “Arab News” of INCLINED TO SPEAK ED. by Hayan Charara. As both a retired professor from Princeton University and an avid reader of your Iconia blog, I feel that you missed one of the seminal poems, and a poet who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, Sam Hamod, PhD with “Dying With the Wrong Name.” This landmark poem has been translated into over twenty different languages for what it says about Arab American, Jewish American and all others who lost their names upon arrival at Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. The poem communicates the dramatic affects of loss and identity for the immigrants, their children and grandchildren. “Dying With the Wrong Name” is a classic poem that I taught in many of my graduate seminars in Contemporary American Poetry as it was the first notable work by an Arab-American. Sam Hamod has been a mentor for the poets you honor such as Naomi Shihab Nye, and has received praise from Pablo Neruda and Borges. It is a travesty that he has been overlooked by both you and others in literature when he should be at the forefront of your reviews and anthologies.

Sincerely,

Kristen D. Pierce, PhD

You guys are great! Thanks.

Catherine, pleased to meet you on Menachem’s blog.

Lori