Sky Ward

by Kazim Ali

New poems from this poet of "precision and ardor"

Winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry (2014)

Drunk on the sun and the sea, Kazim Ali's new poems swoop linguistically but ground themselves vividly in the daily and real. Both imprisoned by endlessness and dependent on it for nurturing and care, in Sky Ward Ali goes further than ever before in sounding out the spaces between music and silence, between sky and ocean, between human and eternal. "Daily I wish stitched here to live," moans his Prometheus, wondering what release from familiar bondage might actually portend. "So long liberation," his Icarus sings as he plummets from the sky with desperation and grace, ready to unfeather and plunge into the everything-new. Whether in the extended poem-prayer to Alice Coltrane or in the "deleted scenes" and "alternate endings" to his critically acclaimed volume Bright Felon, or in the spirit-infused and multi-faceted lyrics he has become known for, Ali once again reinvents possibilities for the personal lyric and narrative.

Genres: Poetry

100 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 2013

About the author

Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, includingthe volumes of poetry Inquisition, Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary's College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled The Voice of Sheila Chandra and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, Northern Light.

Author photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones from Kazim Ali's press kit.

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost in the summer afternoon
The house’s upper floors disappear

What is it for me to be
At the beginning of a new life

When I knew nothing
Of the old

[John Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Kazim Ali. "Now years after he still sings the eerie air...." Sing on!

[Abeer Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the best word to describe kazim ali's Sky Ward is "mystical"
although 'mystical' is a tired word, and the book is far more human than to be described as simply spiritual, a beyond human understanding sort of poetry, i think it had a great element of feelings represented purely through metaphor that it felt pretty magical.
the theme, recurring topic through out the poems was spirtuality, the struggle with it, the loss of it, the complex feelings toward god, existance, self, sin, love, family, home.
it dealt with someone coming from a religious (islamic) upbringing, and unfolding into an adulhood of questioning and sin, and how that effects self reflection and thoughts and feelings about one's self and the world, and what they believe or use to believe.
it also vaguely dealt with homosexuality in regards to islamic upbringing, overall the poems were beautiful and painful and had a very strong combination of the pulls of self annihilation and bravery.

I loved it. and although it was cryptic, -for lack of a better word- most poetry does tend to be that way, if you put enough effort to read carefully, it unfolds beautifully.

god knows i need to read it again and i think can only get better with further reading.

"So long liberation...

My time in the world was
only a gesture

an ache
I never knew"

[World Literature Today]

"Storyline in Sky Ward is like the face of a friend you recognize from far away; you start walking in that direction, waving hello, until you are close enough to realize you do not know the person to whom you have been waving." - Benjamin Myers, Oklahoma Baptist University

This book was reviewed in the July 2013 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1a4hxLF

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a gentle whisper. Some of my favorite moments:

but will I broken will I undone

Tattooed on my left wrist, "let-go"
Tattooed on my right wrist, "not-it"

I declined the coat my brother wore, incandescent aspect of both bird and angel.

My time in the world was
only a gesture.

Every one looking for some thing
newer than death.

another season cut to pieces

I strain for what I"m owed. I read heaven its riot act.

can I be reborn as a guitar
and you reborn as music to hum inside me

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally go for the mystical tho I did love Blake's songs of innocence when I was younger. I really liked the long poem dedicated to Alice Coltrane, esp. the last three sections where the sea imagery and musical sounds of rhythm and language really shine. I could've used more like the Bright Felon alt ending with less couplets.