DIARY APRIL 2004

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Tuesday, April 6, 2004
Message to Iraq Information and Discussion Lis
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Misasuzu & Company (for Doug et al.)

Hello Doug,

Wise of you to add: (Before you fly off the handle, know that I`m just kidding:-), otherwise I would have gone nuts!!!!!

Now that we are on a lighter tone, allow me to explain a bit how my mind works.

Being a person who makes attempts at writing poetry, I have no fear of letting my imagination wander even in crazy regions. That is where Misasuzu that called your attention in my previous message comes from. For this I need only to have my forty cigarettes of ordinary tobacco daily (I am a heavy smoker). By the way, I don't drink and hate all kinds of stimulants and drugs and consider all people with addictions to substances (with the exception of my addiction to tobacco :-) ), false ideas, puritanism, religious fanaticism, food, luxury, power and all and every kind of excesses and indulgences as creatures who need to be assisted in rehabilitation centers.

I am thankful to my ancestors for the apparently good genes that have maintained me so far without serious problems.

I don't defend my addiction to tobacco and know that smoking is harmful, but I resist all current attempts, in particular in the US, to launch a witch hunt against smokers.

What else? I work in average between 15-18 hours daily (university, writing, thinking, and the eternal learning). Work and learning are my two happiest instances. If I think of the purpose of what I do, I see that what I do is directed, almost always, to others, be they my students, family friends, readers and the people of Iraq, directly or indirectly. I believe, only when you try to benefit others in some way or another you start to discover who you are and acquire some sense and purpose for your life. This is how I discovered my identity as an Iraqi.

Imagination and fantasy that produce creatures like Misasuzu, the First and the like and of course all the poetry. This is difficult to explain. I suppose this is the function of being born at the bank of the great Tirgis in the south and grown up in the rich north of this little country I call my sacred Iraq. It is the function of its extremely evocative dust, stones, sun, rivers, date palm trees and deserts, of the positive influence of many of its great women and men of the diverse nationalities and peoples that form the Iraqi nation, people who gave me their love and ethical values and taught me to be generous and respectful to human beings and to nature. Add to them all my great Arab and German teachers and friends and a score of other wonderful people, writers, intellectuals and artists all over the world.

I believe in the basic goodness of people and their ability to create beauty and I hate violence in all shapes and forms.

I hope this will brings us closer.

Anwar


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