H. Masud Taj

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November 22, 2011
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Alphabestiary

H. Masud Taj

As a roving oral poet he works on poems in his head and leaves them there. His first book of poems Alphabestiary, (exegesis by Bruce Meyer), has him present at IFOA 2011: The International Festival of Authors, Toronto.

He has recited to audiences ranging from Officers of the Indian Navy to a lone Bosnian refugee in Vienna; in venues such as Stanley Kubrick’s secluded estate in Hertfordshire; Kingdom Café in red-light area of Amsterdam; Hall of Philosophy, Chautauqua, NY; Poetry Place, London UK; a 400 yr old Sufi Lodge, Istanbul; Roman Abbey, St. Albans; British Councils, Alliances Française and universities of North America, Europe and India. 

 

H is poems have featured in international anthologies (Penguin India; Bloodaxe UK; Fulcrum USA; Wespennest Austria); as well as Canadian (The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament; Atlas: The Canadians); his calligraphy is archived in the Special Collection of Carleton University where he is Adjunct Research Professor of Architecture and recipient of the Capital Educator Award 2011. He lives with his family in Ottawa, and spends each monsoon as an architect in India.

 

From H. Masud Taj

Dragonfly

My head

Is a conference of eyes;

I hold too many points of view.

 

My feet 

Are displaced hair;

Tentativeness was never so tenacious.

 

My body

Is an understatement;

Fragile stem at an angle.

 

My wings

Are nostalgic leaves;

Transparency cannot photosynthesize.

 

My tongue

Is on fire;

I have a name to live up to.

 

See Taj recite and speak about this poem (YouTube)