Forgotten cooled

Sometimes I forget to drink while it’s hot,

and later when I peer into the cup

it’s gone halfway down and a skin has formed,

marred the creaminess and puckered it up.

I could pinch it between finger and thumb

and remove it gently, reheat and restart

and finish it to the dregs as usual

but drinking halfway cup’s also an art -

not everyone can remove those skins

to lift them seamless requires expertise

and put that exact heat back in the drink -

preference is a matter of degrees.

So I pour it off, let the half go waste

the temperature makes or mars the taste.

Does it happen to you sometimes too? :)  The cup, the glass, the cafe, tavern, inn etc, someplace with lots of comings and goings is a staple of Eastern metaphors. Comfort food. Or rather, drink. I have a craving for it right now :)

C is for...Chai...Coffee...and...Calligraphy...

is for

Chai!    

Chai, or tea, is drunk by the gallons in Arablands – it is taken black without milk. Tea with milk is less common, especially once you get to out of the way places.

Coffee is known as Qahwa/'Ahwah, and its relationship with Arabia goes back a long way, much farther than tea. While coffee beans came to Arabia from Africa, tea came in from the east - Persian travellers brought it from China through trade. 

And here is a number about women and coffee, from Morocco :

Calligraphy

Calligraphy evolved in all societies primarily to communicate, to project a message to some future time, protect its integrity, and/or archive. 

However, calligraphy in Arabic during the 8^th century grew and spilled over into architecture, decorative arts, design and ornamentation at every level.  Nowhere else will you see the art of writing itself elevated into an artform in its own right.  Begs the question why, doesn’t it?

A new message of faith – Islam, needed to stand out, differentiate itself.  Islam deemed conventional figurative depiction idolatrous - all the templates that had been used before must be done away with and replaced by a new set. Unprecedented, unique, unimagined previously. Very well then, here was calligraphy! It slotted right into the picture, no pun intended, and developed into a totally new art.

Detail of Mudejar calligraphy in Alhambra Palace. Granada, 

Andalusia. Spain. 13th - 15th century.

Modern calligraphic wall art. Bin Matar House Pearl Museum. 

Bahrain.

The early Arabs engaged with China in the 8^th century, and brought back the know-how for paper-making. This new technology revolutionised calligraphy. But calligraphy was in no way restricted to paper - it was used to decorate everything - buildings, ceramics, textiles, every surface was a sheet for the calligraphers.

Kufic 'formal' style calligraphy. Sultan Hassan Mosque. 

14th century. Cairo.

There are broadly two different styles of calligraphy – ‘formal’ and ‘cursive’. Within each there are further subdivisions, each has its own strict set of rules for execution. 


Follow this link here to see what an amazing young Egyptian calligraphy artist is making and this one here to see another from Jordan. Here's calligraphy art in traditional and modern styles - Arabic Calligraphy. Listen, if you have the time, to a calligrapher talk about his art in the clip below:

Did you know Coffee  as a beverage originated in Arabia? It was drunk in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen and Consumed by Arabs at home before it became popular elsewhere.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2017 

Martha's aunt's response to the market researcher

I.

I have no memories of tea-drinking,

pinkies out to show off the best shaped nails;
milky coolness of china cups tinkling
while the lazy light outside thins and fails.

 

Had you waited, I’d have puzzled it out,

But as it is – frankly, I can’t recall -
some folks would have them, sure, there is no doubt,
but mine’s the same blank day, and nightfall.

 

Rise before the daylight cracks the curtain

rest after night slinks in the dark of coal;
those are the only rules that are certain,
and certain is the toil that breaks the soul.

 

So it’s just as well that you’ve found someone

with nice memories to answer that question.

 

 

 

II.

 

I don’t know what you are talking about

childhood is something that other folks got
the toys and food, terraces facing south,
the breeze-in-hair trips to picnic spots.

 

What I learnt early was not to spill lentils,

I knew the yodel of the factory siren
violent men who tottered at our doorsills
women who were always tired and sunken.

 

Not one brand of crisp, arrowroot biscuit

in those kitchens where I happened to eat
I’ve no answer to this teatime nitpick
the names and games played with salt and sweet.

 

I’m glad that you pushed past me quite offhand

and found someone more clued up on brands.






For my framily in MR, who, unlike the researcher above, never pushed past anyone's aunt.  With love and many fond memories.