Sihem Cherif

A SWEET BLEND of POETRY, QUOTES and PHOTOGRAPHY

"TO WHOM THE STRAND BELONGS?"

Just a strand of hair
 struggling for some air
 when walls got a crumble
 the head caught in the rubble

Just a strand to tell
 the story of that fall
 She remained inside
 may it be a bride
 
 May she be a mother
 startled by the thunder
 taken by the quake
 her child she would awake
 
 May she be a daughter
 tending to a sick mother
 giving some pills
 the cup of hope, she fills
 
 May she be a tutor
 with knowledge, life is better
 looking for a pen
 write again and again
 
 The quake shattered her dreams
 blanked some thriving-beams
 Just the strand to witness
 All that fear and mess
 
 Just the strand to say
 that once upon a day
 lived a beautiful she
 cherishing life like you and me.
 
 © Sihem Cherif

A lesson not learned
 wash those letters into tears
 They may wriggle better
 I failed to learn the lesson
 of the sour fruit
 and the cup of tea
 Dry and bitter
 all the hurt of the lies
 all the void the promises
 all the wrinkles of the wistful days
 I could not thumb your book
 Nor could I question
 for when I remember
 I start to shiver and stutter
 Shall I blame the thirst in my river?
 Shall blame death
 when it took my brother
 Shall I blame a smooth heart
 that trusts and never sees
 in the sweetness of vows
 lies the flare of treachery.

©Sihem Cherif

"Greet dawn with
 a smile you never
 know how far is
 the ray of hope."

© Sihem Cherif

"Another Icy Night"

 Tonight I expected you tonight.
 You would wrap your hopes in the sky
 And come smiling like a toddler singing to his feet.
 Tonight I miss you all the more.
 Expecting your precious knock
 on my already open door.
 Tonight started the fight.
 In my wrecked bosom
 they waged war in your little mind
 You did not come tonight
 They made you hate and disdain
 the track that would pluck all the pain
 Tonight I miss you and so does the moon
 The stars did join my prayers
 Then you would hastily come too soon.

© Sihem Cherif

"Tell Dusk that some stars are reluctant to sparkle when the clouds are pregnant."

© Sihem Cherif

"Oozing clouds
 made glorious
 skies, a lame
 sailor does not
 know safe bays."
 
 © Sihem Cherif

A Nice Tweet
 
 "Mom, I Do Not Need a Train Ticket"

The road ahead shall sparkle and glisten
 this morning to my paths I want to listen
 The sky above glares, the sun teaches the lesson
 The birds flickering near me
 The lanes with bare arms
 Greeting the big shabby tree
 How could I spare such a glee
 And rush to board the train?
 
 Eager to tango with my shoe heels
 who knows what it feels
 when from that hill he may lurk
 
 Getting my candle from the dark
 singing to my heart like a young lark
 we then shall share the road
 dreaming of that tiny abode.
 
 The journey to school is sweeter on foot
 Puppy love is a nice tweet
 we accept the rain and the heat
 with every stride, we taste
 the gleam of a cherished company
 when I do look at his eyes
 they silently talk to me.
 
 © Sihem Cherif

In the slideshow, we have included some of Sihem Cherif's photography:
 One with a quote, another of clouds and sunset and the last one: "The Whispering Reefs", Sihem describes so beautifully: "When the reefs whisper more than a story to remember."

Sihem is from Tunis, Tunisia.