Poetry

My Diary .....

It is my silent friend ever

Here or there we last together

Travel or move where I go

It keeps me always through

It is my friend with the pen

That never stands still

Bare my tempers that fill

My story with them seems endless

As they never be helpless

I smile, I cry and I love

In my dairy …. With love

Classes at ALI

Getting a PhD. Is my dream

To the TESOL program I creep

To get a place I always believe

Being back a student I like to be

My first class was writing with Kyle

He keeps me happy and smile

With the slides he shows and hide

And the tips we keep in mind

Writing is more than setting a file

It is the expression of what is inside

His emails make me fine

They are brief and wise

What can I say about the class of Mike?

It is the grammar that I never like

My scores were not fine

So I prepare to get my desire

Class of Burke is something else

It is a movie more or less

Watching, learning and discuss

Talking, acting and express………

Equality…….

Males, females are the same

Everybody is equal

Foreigner or local

American or international

Work is the point

Studying is the aim

Freedom is the notion

And

Struggling for education…..

Shopping Online…

Going shopping was my aim

To get a wireless device I claim

The rain was falling

My kids were wet

I got home quickly

Without the wireless unhappily

With a mug of coffee

And a piece of biscuit

The idea flash upon

My eyes glitter

My lips smiles

Yes, I can shop

I can shop online

No more rain or snow

Little late but ok

I ordered, paid and got

And

From this experience I learnt a lot…..

Indiana in winter….

Is it old and pale?

Or

Young and lovely as a bride

This question comes around

In my way on the ground

It was dressed with the snow

I run and slow

Amazed with the show

White, soft and tender

I stand to a tree

That move there and here

Either was dancing with the breeze

Or shivering from the freeze

Covered from root to leaves

With such a view I was pleased………

arriving to IUP

It is the love that falls with fall
It is the passion if I can call
The trees are short and tall
Where my kids play and fall
Charmed with the smell I drawn
The trees, the grass and the rose
Surrounded by the trees was not my desire
Now with this view I am alive
The leaves are dancing with the flies
Now no more tears or cries
To a place called IUP I fly
With all the mystery it implies
On my desire to learn I rely
Leaving my life behind standby…..


I wrote this poem last fall Dec. 2010

Samah

A Story of a Country Killed by its Ruler

       

            My country Libya is suffering, bleeding and crying for help. It has been six weeks since the revolution took place in Bengazi. It is an unexpected war between the ruler and his people, his daughter once raised the claim “either you like my father or you or you do not deserve to be a live” (In her speech on 14^th March. 2011 from her house in Tripoli in “the Libyan state channel”) the Libyan people chose to fight. Libya is known for its unique location, in front of the Mediterranean Sea. Being in the Middle East and North Africa makes it a station for many travelers around the world. It has well known historical sites like Leptus Magna, Ceren and Sabrata in addition to many remains of palaces and tools from the old Greek and Roman era. Libya is also known for having the largest reserve of oil in Africa. Jad Mohamed (2005) stated that Libya has the rights to explore and develop new sources of petroleum. This country holds the largest oil reserve in Africa, but as a producer it trails Nigeria and Angola. And, only a quarter of the country oil has been explored. In contrast, it suffers from poverty in terms of comparing the oil production with the population which is only 6.037 million in 2007 (New York Times 2011).  Everything in my country has changed since the February 17. I felt as I was living in a different world before the uprising started. Honestly, at the beginning I was against this movement and I felt so upset of seeing my country move from the state of quietness to the unrest. Later, after I saw what Gaddafi did to the people, I changed my mind about him.

             In this paper I will discuss the significant events of the Libyan revolution and referring some parts of the missing history. When I was a child, teachers told us that Gaddafi is our second father. Therefore, we used to call him (Baba Moamer), unlike all people in the world; we the Libyans have two fathers not one. I was singing for him, carrying his photos wherever I travel. I never think of his strange behavior, for me he was a symbol of Libya. People know him but not Libya. So as a Libyan I was belonging to him not to Libya. Then, when the uprising took a place, I felt worried about him and I was crying to keep my second father alone. Eventually, after all the dead bodies I saw and all the violence he used towards the Libyan people, I saw his unmasked ugly face. I saw how cruel this person is. He does not like us, and he does not like Libya; he likes himself. And, to keep himself, he is ready to kill all the Libyans and wipe out Libya from the map.

        In this revolution, I am examining a different period and a different people. Even my country name has been changed. It used to be known as: The Great Socialist People’ Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, the name of Libya is little bit new because we are not used to using it. It was a translation of the word (Jamahiriya) and a name of nationality in passports. Now, I hear people everywhere confidently say Libya not Jamahiriya. And to show your loyalty to the regime never says Libya, because it refers to the era of independence at King Idris time, the king who was ruling Libya before Gaddafi from 1951 to 1969.  The second thing that changed is the flag. The one we used to use is a plain green with nothing drawn or written in it. Now, the one which people are using, is (red, black and green with white crescent and a star inside), this was also the flag of the independence in 1952. The third thing is the Anthem; weeks ago I woke up hearing a new song of freedom and independence. I asked my husband about this song, he replied that “this is not a new                                                               song, this is the old national anthem and people started using it instead of the Gaddafi’s older one.

        That was a very brief history about my beloved country. In looking through that history, is very difficult to decide whether people are seeking to go back to 1951 or trying to build a new version of that King’s time. Before the revolution started in Bengazi, the second largest city, Libyan people (the opposition) called people to protest. It was their chance to do so, since our closest neighbors Tunisia and Egypt were free. People in Libya protested peacefully without any weapons to ask about their rights as human. They protested for better life , better health care, and better education. However, the tough regime faced them with heavy artillery. He used all his means to kill as much as he can to lock people’s voice.  However, their voice was too strong to be shut. It is one voice “Go”. He is ruling for 42 years and these years are enough.

            The world was witnessing this killing and no one took a serious step to stop it. What they do is condemning the Gaddafi’s behavior. Unfortunately, their declarations do not stop his desire to kill. After few weeks, President Obama took the first step in asking for “No fly zone”, at the same time France announced her support to the Libyan revolution and the National Transitional Council. In doing so, people feel a little secure and this give a chance to others to support them as well. In response to violence by the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi during the 2011 Libyan uprising, the United Nations approved a no-fly zone on March 17, 2011. The resolution includes provisions for further actions to prevent attacks on civilian targets. (Security Council, March, 17. 2011). On 19 March, 2011, the coalition started the military intervention in Libya in their response to the Security Council meeting on 17^th.  They give this intervention the name of Odessa Dawn. This coalition consists of many different countries as Britain, France, Qatar, USA and United Emirates. Their help was very valuable because they reduce the number of the killing in the places they shoot. However, Gaddafi’s artilleries are still moving onwards and more killing is happening. People start making pressure on President Obama to take the next step. His next words were more concise “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action,” Obama said. (Russia Today, March 31, 2011). Some people argue against President Obama action, they do not want USA to be part of this war, Eric Garris in San Francisco (the co-founder of anti-war organization ) said “American way of life doesn’t work everywhere. We’ve seen this over and over again. We tried to bring it to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, what we have going on in Libya now. It never works. It will only work if the people want it. But if they want it, they are going to do it on their own” President Obama replied that he disapproves the war of Iraq, but supports the one in Libya. “I’ve made it clear that I will never hesitate to use our military swiftly, decisively, and unilaterally when necessary to defend our people, our homeland, our allies and our core interests.” I as a Libyan person, I fully appreciate President Obama response to the Libyan war as I understand why some Americans refuse his actions towards this war. People in Libya have no weapons, no military support and no strong equipment to face the craziness of Gaddafi’s decision.    Finally, I am looking forward of seeing my country free and people got what they protest for like better life, better education and better healthcare, also they should as wealthy as the country’s oil production.

Thank you Mr. Kyle for giving this chance to write little bit of what is going around in my beloved country. It was really a difficult experience because I did not know what to mention and what to leave. I hope that I could point out the most significant information.

Samah . 

April, 16^th.2011.

My bleeding country

My bleeding country

Words always stand still

War in my country is still

Dead, blood, hunger

People are filled with anger

I miss the quietness of the streets

And people who lived in peace

I miss the air which no longer clean

Smokes, gases everywhere

In becomes difficult to breath

Asking for freedom is what they need

Samah Ebelazi

April, 27/ 2011

Why do we write

Writing is more than those written scripts printed in blank paper. It is what lies behind those letters and what

message we want to send to the world . It is the happiness we hide inside and we express it by those words. Writing is all about that. it is the release of the prison thoughts that burn us inside. It is the position where we locate ourselves among others, it is the identity we claim. it is all and all and all. can not even find a good description for the word writing, for me it is my world , it is my territory, it is the house I built long time ago. It is the experience we ever seek. It is love, life, hatred, sadness, joy and hunger. Writing is our past, our present and our future, can you imagine the world without writing.....of course no. and that's why we do writing

This is my first trial in the writing blog :)

Samah Elbelazi

Composition and TESOL

IUP

fall 2011