Taxicab Hiccups

Faisal and temporal: I was specifically referring to Eco`s novel ``Foucault`s Pendulum`` which is all about words coming to life and creating their own reality. ``reality`` is a fuzzy concept at the best of times though.

Incidentally, thank you for the criticism :).

RE: Arif

Too many qualifying verbs, nice poem otherwise. It is interesting to see such modern metaphors.

On Umberto Eco: I do not see, where you are going with your `Words have a life` rhetoric. I have a modest understanding of Eco and in my opinion, as a professor of Semiotics he has divulged into this subject quite a bit (Refer: The Limits of Interpretation (Advances in Semiotics)), but as a writer his contention is quite different. Eco`s interpretation of Joyce- perhaps the only writer to give words any life- is fair enough to derive a structure out of narrative. Maybe I am misconstruing your idea and hence your validity as a poet. Please do explain further. And hope to see more of your work on Chowk. Khush Amdeed!

Regards,

Faisal

Nice work, Arif.

For you, and others inhibited by the submission window (I think temporal has complained about this once too), you can write your submission as a Word document and paste it in Interact.

Anita

well, well :). recognition, finally :). pity that your day job is more than just a splinter in your eye. i loved that. i said this the first time i wrote to you, ill say it again: dont give up the night job :).

Arif Abrar:

No. Please elucidate.

Shandana:

When I wrote about words that live I meant in a universal context. My woman, graceful, eloquent, with-it as she is is, sometimes, albeit very rarely, will make an issue EVEN with what I have never uttered or am incapable of uttering. Sorry, your example doesn`t fly.

Here is a transcreative work in progress:

WORDS

Words

innocent, innocuos, piercing, penetrating

clinging to the bosom of earth

Words

belief and disbelief

individual and collective

collective and divisive

Words

yesterday`s, today`s, nor tomorrow`s

and their extra-terrestial ttraction.

(and, if you know Urdu, you can place what follows, to the right of this poem).

Lafz

maasoom, bay-zarar, sangeen, sakht.

dharti kay seenay say chimtay hu`ay

Lafz

yaqeen aur la taal-looki

fard aur groh

groh aur groh-bandi

Lafz

kal kay, naa aaj kay, naa kal kay

aur oonki yeh kashish-e-gahir-mar`ayee.



I wish I could have formatted this myself. But this submission window won`t let me do it. And I know when this appears I will wince. But this is the best I could do for now.

regards

temporal: ever read any umberto eco?

obaid: I have hairdressers standing by for you.

I hope that you are not wasting your life doing
something else. Write On!!!!

Re: slink

Let the author answer from himself. Dont get over-bearing already!

Hey Arif! Good to see you here too. Although I am not too literarily inclined I did enjoy your piece.

To slink:

We know how you feel! So stop the PDA! Talk about layering it on thick!

re temporal `what morphed`:

`time crawled..Morphed into light`..one instant it drags the next instant you realize it has flashed by you at the speed of sound, leaving only a momentary impression on your retina and for an instant all you see is blurred,framed by the memory of what was..like looking away from a bright light and seeing dots, or turning the light on in the middle of the night and not being able to see anything till the flash fades.
words as rabbits, multiplying and breeding. do words have lives of their own, can they breed on their own without mouths to spring from and lines to bleed from?
ever tried talking to your girlfriend when she`s angry and is bent upon twisting what you said around?
as for smell..i think it was just a reference to the negative power of words.

that was just my reading of it, wanted to share :)

Arif Abrar:

Hiccups indeed.

Words have their own lives? I don`t know.

Ideas & thoughts expressed in words do sometimes take a life of their own. But words alone have nothing in common with rabbits or smell; no matter how you string them.

What morphed? Couldn`t decipher.

regards

Very nice imagery. Humour too. Good work

such talent, it`s gutwrenching to think of you stuck behind a desk having to ignore the words marching by begging to be conquered.
this is lovely, the last stanza in particular.
brilliant stuff from (possibly :) the most talented writer i know.

shandana