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.