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Friday, April 5, 2013

Draw



Draw

Today
it's difficult to know
who you are
The outside world
depends on how you view
the worlds inside
In you
are vast oceans
to discover
many mountains to climb
endless resources
and hidden treasures
all waiting for you
to discover them

Slow your pace
to enjoy the journey
stop and look
f e e l
What's inside
can be seen
better
when it's put outside
like on paper
and then
you can close that chapter
draw the conclusions
and put it behind you

Let it go

So you can move forward

Take the leap of faith

Repeat





by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
12-2-00

Sunday, March 31, 2013

DEM: Deus Ex Machina / Don't Eat Me



DEM
:
Deus Ex Machina (God in the Machine) Don't Eat Me


I have dem two friends:
The home phone is out side
The cel phone is not in hand

sometimes I use dem
sometimes I lift dem up
sometimes I turn dem off

But because it makes us angry
I never expect anything from dem




(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1999)

Denial



Denial

You have it all
At such a young age
A loving wife, a good job
A boy, a girl
Travelled the world
And moved to America.

Luck follows you everywhere
Maybe it's an ancestor's blessing
You've had it all too easy
And don't value the gifts.

Dark spots of the past
Haunt your conscience
Inside you feel undeserved
And want to tear it down.

So you're on the train
Racing toward death
By internal meltdown
The more you booze
The more you lose




(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1999)

Friday, March 29, 2013

Deadened



Deadend

Shirley: I got my degree five years ago. Did you go to Cal State?
Fazeel: Yea I studied Computer technology and Psychology there

Shirley: So are you Indian?
Fazeel: My parents are Indian. I was born in Pakistan, raised in Saudi Arabia and New Orleans

Shirley: Really?!!!! My grandma's Indian. She used to make goat curry and everything
Fazeel: That's great. I guess a lot of people have Indian blood in the Carribean

Shirley: You're Muslim right?
Fazeel: Yea. Ahamm (wondering what's next)

Shirley: My uncle's side of the family is all Muslim too
Fazeel: Wow! That's wonderful

Shirley: You know I wanted to ask you something. My husband gets a newsletter from his church...
Fazeel: He's African American too, right?

Shirley: Yes, we get this newsletter from our church which says that Muslims believe Black people have raisins for brains
Fazeel: (Silence. Shocking dismay). Hmm where should I start to say that it's not true...




- Based on a true incident in 1993, Los Angeles

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Dead Silence



Dead Silence

Heavy Sunday night
Lonely city streets
Blank sidewalks
Locked doors
Empty cars
Pitch dark windows
Families fast asleep
Everybody's home
Except me in a car
After a party
Five scattered stars

A rumbling train
Keeps pushing on its way

Maybe she's listening to
Sontag's voice of hope
On his radio talk show

How far is the corner
Where she seeks me
Weaving dreams
Missing me
As I am
Appealing to fate






Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
8-16-99

Eyes Dead



Dead Eyes

Poor Indian women
Sifting thru trash
At a waste dump
Newly arrived shipments
Girls stunned
Looking at camera
Social
Shared water tap
Couple sleeping on street
Homeless kids
Child begging for rupees
Cold wind blows
Baby on handle bar
Of a bicycle

Children without hope
Prostitutes
Hardcore
sober
No blinking

It's lunch time
Miles of military planes
Parked at the offence base
Left the enemy
Exploded to ashes

From Jerusalem
To all corners of the burning ball
In
some sacred and some unholy spaces
Forgotten people again pray
Pleading for a better life


(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 3-19-99)

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Crane


Crane

you’re the kind
           gentle breeze
                      caressing my soul
                                 you’re the fresh
                                            drink of peace
                                                       fading my load
                                                                  you’re the cultivator
                                                                             bringing me hope
                                                                                        you’re the magnetic
                                                                                                   maestro
                                                                                                              tugging my road

                                                                                                                         you’re the fusion
                                                                                                              trigger
                                                                                                   giving me support
                                                                                        you’re the sheer
                                                                             pacemaker
                                                                  drumming my role
                                                       you’re the counter
                                            balance
                                 making me whole
                      you’re the auto
           pilot
drawing me home





(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 10-15-98)

Monday, March 25, 2013

Concentration Cramp



Concentration Cramp

"Not in Europe but L.A.
Angry, howling dogs
Smashing against cages
Bold, majestic cats
Cute, fluffy kittens
Orphans awaiting adoption

No Nazi uniforms around
But somebody makes choices
Picking which pets to kill
In the name of space

Their dreadful crime:
Learned their multiplication tables
Far too well"

Says an Anglo American writer
He's choked up with emotion
With evident love and care
Protesting against cruelty to pets
But what about human orphans
 and poor people instead?



Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
4-19-99

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Comfortable, Numb and Naive



Comfortably Numb


Get in touch with god
Turn the radio on

Get a house full of lies
Power the TV on

Read the bed time stories in the newspaper
Lull yourself into a hypnotic stupor

Switch to the music channels
Turn on your body, blindfold your soul

Tune into nine thousand outlets on cable
Get your head programmed

Watch the celebrities and wana-be's with envy
Hear the news anchors spinning and miseducating
Talk show pundits instigating and hating
Putting spells on us til we're oblivious

Drinking and roaring for sports
Is this like bread and circus for the Romans?

The last thing the fish notices
Is the water it's immersed in


(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1-29-97)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Wake up those sleepy eyes



COME ON BABY GET UP

Come on baby now get up and don't give up
Wake up those sleepy eyes and look inside
Ain't no safe place left for your conscience to hide
When will you realize what you've been denied

Time to run up the hill and leave the past behind
Shed this enslaved skin, this colonized mind
I'm tired of telling you all the stuff that's up
If we insist they will wipe out all of us



(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1996)

Friday, March 22, 2013

Another Brick at "the Wall"


Combi-Nation

History's a lucid guru
When she's embraced with honesty

No matter if you're a Hindu,
Muslim, Sikh or Christian
When you seek to criticize
You only see what's the difference

Your belief in Heaven and Hell
Your way of life and death
Is between you and the Lord

But do you rub your forehead
On the sacred ground
And don't let it penetrate the iron mask?

Cause if you can't love thy neighbor
You surely have learned nothing

Fifty years we've clashed
Piling up bombs and war planes
Yet searching for new tracks
Praying for the peace train

Kill your hate my friend
Or it will defeat and eat you
Wana be with you on the common ground
Cause I need you

So here we go, on a beat up bus
Cleanup the streets, side walks and stations
For a pilgrimage to our mutual roots
And progress to a collective destination


by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
2-23-99

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Who the hell are you



(Colored Man,) Who The Hell Are You!

Who the hell are you
We'll break your head in two

Freeze don't move
I'm watching you
Watch what you say
We'll make you pay
Who you think you are
You belong behind bars

Who the hell are you
We'll break your face in two

Beat you up straight
Turn your love to hate
Cut you into solitary
You're wrong you're crazy
You better conform
Don't question our bombs

Who the hell are you
We'll break your soul in two

You're not one of us
Don't you mess with us
Your kind we don't trust
Shut up all this fuss

Who the hell are you
We'll break your heart in two

Change your name, your hair, your face
Change your mind, your words, your faith

Don't you dare to care
That nonsense don't work here
Trade your friends for fear
Nobody feels you, nobody hears


Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
1997

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

American Melting Pot vs. Canadian Salad Bowl



Citizen Tame

I was dis-Card-ed
as a non-European
un-American
illegal alien

Til I was homogenized
naturalized, a citizen
and legally changed
my name to John

But still could not
get initiated
by the elders
into the American tribe

Now I've changed my name
back
and tattooed the U.S. flag
to my forehead

by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
2005

Monday, March 18, 2013

Said So / Want To



CAUSE I WANT TO

Cause I want to
Because I said so
To sell me like Madonna
To be a rambo-like killer
Stomp at the earth so proud
Scream out my lies aloud

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

Get rich quick
Don't give a shit

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

I tell the truth
I'm a good girl
I love you I miss you
Stab you I kiss you

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

New jewels and cars
Ten men in a jar
Worshippers and lovers
Slaves and pushovers

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

I make the rules
Get lost you fool
You broke my law
Dishonored God

Cause I want to             Cause I said so

This land is mine
These people are mine
I am the best
Above all the rest

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

Wear no dress
Sun rises from the west
Don't touch me
Don't cross my path

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

Cut into pieces
These people this country
I don't trust you
I don't believe you

Cause I said so              Cause I want to

You know nothing die on
I am the queen I do no wrong
I own your pen, come fall on my sword
Immortals like me won't face the lord

Cause I said so
Cause I want to


(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1996)

Stop the Violence



Build Don't Destroy

I remember a time
When my people would not kill our own
We walked with love in our hearts
My country was not at war

Now those days are long gone
Why can't we just get along
Live and let live in peace
Kindness is strong fighting is weak

Build Don't Destroy
Stop the Violence
Build Don't Destroy
Stop Killing Our Own
Build Don't Destroy
Don't feed the fire

Build Don't Destroy
Give us peace in the streets
Peace in the streets
We want peace in the streets

My people, Dear people
Talk together, Don't kill each other
Those others have red blood and loved ones too
We're all the same they feel the pain like we do

Build Don't Destroy
Stop the violence
Build Don't Destroy
Stop killing our own
Build Don't Destroy
Don't feed the fire

Build Don't Destroy
Give us peace in the streets
Peace in the streets
We want peace in the streets

Build! Don't Destroy!
Stop The Violence!

by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
1995

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Bread and Water


Bread and Water


I am six, sitting on the floor
With a metal spoon in my hand
Stirring water in a 13 ounce steel glass
Feeling in detention or some reprimand
Clankty clankt clankt

Mom and Dad have left us
Have run off to a foreign land
The monthly check is very late
Four hungry children feel they are mistakes
Clankty clankt clankt

My beautiful, mysterious, artist sister
Takes care of us younger kids
She makes up songs for us to sing:

Clankty Clankt, Clankaty Clankt
Mix the water with the salt
Add red pepper, stir them all
Clankty Clankt, Clankaty Clankt
Clankty Clankt, Clankaty Clankt
Got no money, got no food
Bread and water taste real good
Clankty Clankt, Clankaty Clankt
Clankty Clankt, Clankaty Clankt


by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
2-1-02

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Opening the BottleNeck and Breaking the Bottle



Breaking the BottleNeck

Half a life spent addicted to feeling abused and down
Don't like staying up so a weak nation is drowned in a bottle

Five hundred years of colonization injected in our blood
Like taking the plague vaccine and AIDS mixed in a bottle

A thousand years of sermons from the religious dark ages
Can't grant our wishes this genie locked in a bottle

After six months of marriage we got used instead of intimate
You put me distant on your shelf closed in a bottle

With the broken shards of glass I cut my neck lace ropes
I'll never again be a less-than or a victim confined in a bottle



by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
7-22-05

Friday, March 15, 2013

Some Backward Bored of Dictators (directors) of Religious Organizations



To:  TheLeaders @ Muslim Organizations
(The kind who don't represent me)

Dear bored of dictators,
Who give awards to people
"On behalf of the Muslim community"
Where the only representatives
Present at your dinner ceremonies
Are doctors rubbing suits with millionaires

I must have missed the Islamic teaching
Which says I should spend $100 for a meal
My money will make you guys rich
While in your own backyard and parking lot
There are plenty of homeless and hungry

With $100 I could feed at least
A hundred people on skid row
Soup or peanut butter sandwiches
You don't answer my letters
I don't exist for you unless you want my money
In the name of religion, are you pimping me?
If you are a beacon of spirituality
Forget about me, question is:
What would Mohammed do?


by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
5-3-05

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Anarkisst



Anarkisst


He thinks he's better
Because of some skill
As an artist

He gives birth
To beautiful concepts and kids
But doesn't complete things

And his girlfriend
Who's a doctor
So lonely
She buys everything
Nurses people's wounds
Then broadcasts them

He's irresponsible
He forgets things
Now he's grown false wings

No empathy
No loyalty
No respect

For twenty two years
Off friendship




Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
5-6-00

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Aero Straight and Narrow



Aero Straight and Narrow


You're possessed
By TV's empty fantasies
Hot air is everywhere
Your ears are filled
With parasitic words
You murder time
Among friends

I'm trying to be mindful
I'm trying to be me
And not get manipulated
My words are thoughtful
Based on tests and time
You may not value them now

Ignorance is ignoring the truth

Come get me
When you get tired
Of meaningless conversations
If I'm lucky enough
To still be here





Fazeel Azeez Chauhan
5-6-00