Avatar Poetry by Karima Hoisan + Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bKmdGi98yHTSe70pLcbyf?si=15de773531c94f0a

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One of the many wonders of blogging that I still want to pinch myself over as I work on my novels (about them here), is how, while I sit at my desk, I interact with people from everywhere!

And that includes avatars who may be born in the virtual world (here’s Wiki’s explanation of Second Life, a site where people construct alternate versions of themselves, a.k.a an avatars, and then do stuff with fellow avatars within Second Life land) — and avatars who venture out into blogland!… 

Today’s guest is Karima Hoisan, an avatar and blogger who writes and records her poetry from Costa Rica, where she lives among four dogs and three cats. Costa Rica is especially close to my heart. For one thing, it did away with their military and uses the funds on education and healthcare.

For another, their economy is based on ecotourism. Hey, they turned caring for flora and fauna into a livelihood! Some years ago, Khashayar and I enjoyed a vacation there filled with adventure and beauty. I blogged and video-ed about it here and here and here and here and here and here.

Karima is an avatar who publishes and performs at the blog she started in 2010, Digital Rabbit Hole, and on her YouTube video channel. Her multimedia shows weave together imagery, artificial intelligence, and music (some composed by her). Her process, she says, is simple. The outcomes, however, are brilliantly textured. From a quiet room, she speaks into a Blue Yeti mic, then composes on her Macbook Pro laptop’s Garage Band software.

Her work has been published at MasticadoresUSA, and Spillwords Press, and her Anthology: “Wounds I healed: The Poetry of Strong Women,” and also “Hidden in Childhood.”

On her latest birthday, she “came out” at her blog…

True to her name, “generous” in Arabic, Karima’s contribution includes an audio version of her poem below, which you can listen to and download by clicking here…

Black and Silver by Karima Hoisan

Black and Silver Dark and Light

My song is strummed for only you

on this chilly evening-tide  

You could keep me warm 

pure softness and fur

small chests that do not rise or fall

each time they purr.

Let’s cuddle up before I go to bed

the tactile feel of you when I run my finger 

from the tip of your nose

to the top of your head…

Pure beauty… would anyone deny?

So beautiful  and so full of life

and if God broke the mold,

he did it after he made you both.

Ebony fur that turns electric in light

the palest of pale eyes that mesmerize

and elicit from me subtle coos and sighs.

How could you, by just being you

 sneak up on me and melt my heart?

Ticksters rolling sacred baubles  across the floor

and yet be two carved works of art?

Like a sphere in its pure cosmic connection

I hold you both one in each hand

 and you are the rhythm section.

While the spheres remind me

of the Universe in all its perfection.

Play with me; please stay with me!

Spend all nine lives in my company.

I will keep you entertained, I promise you

I’m as unpredictable as you are; yes it’s true!

I will gift to both, the pampered life

You deserve only the best,

the finest nooks and pillows, and secret places

 to lay your heads,

the best food, and toys all you desire

and more love then a kingdom

gives to its Sire.

Black small kittens with pale big eyes

and silver spheres that reflect the light,

there is absolutely nothing better

in this world or the next

than to keep you both very close

to remind  me day and night of our fragile lives 

and what might await us, after we die.

Karima  Hoisan, May 20, 2023, Costa Rica

How many sides do you have to yourself?