Article by: Herzl Hakak
About Iris Calif's poetry and her books "Daughter of God" Hadarim" publishing house - 2020 [122 pages]
And "A Pure Wild Moon" Eked" publishing house-2017- [68 pages]
Article translated to English by: Yarden Zehavi
Literary quotes translated to English by: Iris Calif- "all rights reserved"
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| [The cover of the book of "A Pure Wild Moon"] |
Nature and the universe are the realm of longing of the poet Iris Calif. Her poems merge with the changing of the seasons, with the vibration of the great forces of nature - and beyond the words, the reader feels the spirit of God hovering over the surface of this poetry.
Indeed, before us is worldwide secret poetry.
In the poem 'The ocean of my life', Iris writes about her body:
"Stirring love across the ocean" – Iris Calif.
And we haven't forgotten that already in her previous book 'A Pure Wild Moon' the poet painted herself as part of the cosmos: already then we were amazed by her ability to sketch in private hieroglyphs the movements in every corner of the world, her being an internal element, apart from the changing world. The changes in her life, in her body – all these appeared and shook the pillars of the universe – the poet had become a poetic translator of the soul of existence.
Her previous book introduced the foundation for her perception, we found in it poems that presented a poetic subtext around the relationship between humanity and the forces of the universe, the forces of nature.
"Embracing my silence in the hidden heaven of my world" – Iris Calif, page 61.
There we saw poetry that conquers water and sky, lines of a scroll of love, which revealed the secrets of the creation of the world, and already then we were fascinated by the secrets of the moon. The spirit of the creation took hold of everything: Iris Calif, as a priestess of existential mystical poetry, is floating in the same worlds:
Here, in the poem 'Walls of the Moons', she sees with poetic X-ray eyes not only the solar eclipse, but also the eclipse of the night: "In the eclipse of the night I am liberating the spiritual walls of the mysterious moons" – Iris Calif, page 37.
The moon is a part of her soul, and she creates a plot of life across the galaxy in the cycles of the poems – "And in my cold body the moon undresses my soul/ In hidden wings" – Iris Calif, page 48. If you've thought for a moment that the sun is absent from the circles of sublime poetry, here is a magical medley from this wonderful poetry – "Barefoot in the heaven of my senses… In the forest of the night spirit the pure sun of my first desires is divided" – Iris Calif, page 49. She recreates herself not only as Iris Calif, but as a mythological Iris, the foundation of creation - a flower in the foundation of creation, the foundation of blossom and love. And so she writes: "I am the universal human Iris flower of the spiritual heaven land/ In the holy heaven silence I hunt your body" – Iris Calif.
And in the last stanza of the poem:
"I am the universal human Iris flower that is born
In the sight of the spiritual heaven worlds
I am dripping the tears of my land to the silence that carves innocence
Under holy slumbering skies" – Iris Calif, page 56.
And in another poem on page 53 – "Behold, I am the Iris; the daughter of the living/ Naked in sight of the sands of the kingdom of above/ Adorned with gold and drops of moon light. / The sun in the clouds, and the rays wanders" – Iris Calif. All the forces of nature bow to her, bowing to the poetic cycle of life which she generates in the creation of the world. Look, how the night connects to the magical and mystical soul: "The night is heart breaking from time to time, Embroiders in the mountains to the Iris grace" – Iris Calif, page 53.
It's no wonder that in this poem of hers, the poet seems like a celestial priestess, and the name of her book indeed leads to this sacred status – 'Daughter of God'. The poet conveys through her poems the message that both her existence and her art are part of the creation, they are a noble light from above – and all of her poetry is 'the sermon of love' – as she presents it in her poem on page 57.
"In the graceful wind of God I am breathing your sacred melodies/ In front of the sermon of love" – Iris Calif. And at the end of the poem - "A woman crosses with steps of the night/ To the season of Iris with the torn dress of her youth/ Under a human's moon/ Barefoot and silent to the bars of her life" – Iris Calif, page 57.
Here, before us, is bewitching female poetry, which connects to the secrets of the cosmos and turns the words into tubes of light, fractions of aura from the spheres that connect the sky and the earth. One poem connects to the other, and they all turn into both a global and lyrical cycle. Here there isn't poetry that drops some rhymes about the sea and nature and a lover that is fascinated by it. Iris floats in high spheres: this is poetry that tries to give us a feeling that the soul and the words and the indispensability of the blossom – all came to her as a gift from God, as if part of a celestial plan.
And I must mention here some lines from 'A Pure Wild Moon' that demonstrate the powerful connection between the poet and the forces of the creation, to the same feeling that this is the poetry of a daughter of God:
Here is an inspiring example:
"And in the ocean of my body
God
Creating
A field of love
And I am the human flower, the Iris of your heart
Flooded by breaths" – Iris Calif, page 34.
Already in her previous book we've seen how poetic ability becomes a ship in stormy waters and crises – and fascinated, we watched nature's ability to contain contrasts, to cause processes of energy explosion, cosmic change: 'The Heaven of the Sea' – 'Blue Flame' – 'Stalactite of Wind' –
And like in Ezekiel's prophecy, where we watched the divine chariot and the energy of "the electricity", this is the word that appeared in the ancient book of prophecy, here too, in her poetry, there's a description of an electrical process:
A process of electrical exchange – the stalactite melts – and the sensational encounter reveals the pain, the merging becomes a fracture.
The loving poet's burning electricity dance connects to the forces of nature – to the divine entourage – and from this aspect in her poems – the lover and the beloved – are part of the forces of nature, they suckle from the flow of nature, from the life that's in it, from the breaths that break through it and grant it the eternal primordial powers.
Light and drops and spiritual forces – and in the center of the creation is that 'Iris of the land' – a mythological figure, created in a poetic-mystical manner: and that flower of creation – a new part in the forces of nature – a sublime poetic existence, which changed her life.
It's no wonder, that she wanders the galaxy and creates love with parts of universe.
"And I am naked from the wind threads of God
During the years covered in love" – Iris Calif, page 57.
Iris of the creation, princess of nature Instills in us magical pearls of poetry, and in front of us is a process of flow into the human spirit, like threads unraveling until the exposure.
And this is how she describes it in her own words:
"I am unraveling my pearl to the wind" – Iris Calif, page 57.
The biography of the author of the article: Herzl Hakak
Writer, poet, literary critic. Published articles about various topics: literature, identity, Judaism. Served as the chairman of the Hebrew Writers Association between the years 2003-2005 and 2011-2015.
He wrote 10 poetry books and also published together with his twin brother books for children, books of criticism, a commentary on sacred poetry, a linguistic lexicon and articles in magazines, in the press and on the internet. Recently, a book of his poems, "The Song That Has Never Been Sung" was published by 'Shalhevet Jerusalem' publishing company.
He received several awards over the years:
An award (the 'Harry Harshon' award) from the Hebrew University for the poetry book 'The Book of Lights of Love', 1972.
An award (the 'Harry Harshon' award) for review – on the book 'Chapters of Berdichevsky' by Herzl and Balfour Hakak, 1974.
An award (the Wallenrod award) – on behalf of the Hebrew Writers Association 1980.
Honorable Mention ("Rise and Fulfill") – Ministry of Education 2018.
The poetry award named after Uri Orbach of the Division for Jewish Culture – the 1st of Nisan 2021.
The biography of Iris Calif:
Iris Calif is an international writer, poet, dancer, editor and translator of poetry to Hebrew. She is in charge of foreign relations in the online culture, literature and poetry magazine "In Direction of the Wind" ("Bekiovn Hroh") and is a translator and an editor of world-wide poetry in the magazine, as well as in the culture and lifestyle magazine "Mokasini" and in the "World Poetry" section on the literature website "Rooms" ("Hadarim"). She is also a member of the Composers' Association of Hebrew authors and publishers in Israel named "ACUM".
Iris received the 2023 award for International Best Poets & POETS: THE JOURNAL OF RENDITION OF INTERNATIONAL POETRY (ITRC) [Multilingual] [China]. She also holds a diploma from the "Russian Professional Writers Union" and the international magazine "Arina NN", registered in the Ministry of Culture of Russia, for her contribution to the culture world "International Poetic Community" 2022.
Iris is the head of the Israeli liaison department of the Hong Kong Literature and Arts Magazine and a member of the Association of artists and writers of the World SAPS. She takes part in the editorial board of the World Poetry Yearbook 2024 (English edition) and holds an honorary doctorate from the International Forum for Creativity, Humanity and Coexistence, Kingdom of Morocco.
Iris is a descendant of a lineage of Kabbalists, blessed with the prophecy of the spirit of the heart and the ability of communication and vision, which are expressed in her mystical and Kabbalistic writing, endowed with spiritual touches of holy upper and hidden worlds. For her, it is a blessing to shine with the spirit of the Jewish voice from the depths of love, life, and faith in the creator of the world- our father in heaven
"And as I soar with the flight of my spirit soul, I will carry the holy halo of the light of my Jewish loving voice, in the eternally world of the wings of the Dove of God spirit of the land-living peace"-Iris Calif
Three of Iris's books have already been published: "In a fascinating lane breathes Lolita" (2001), "A Pure Wild moon" (2017), and "The daughter of God" (2020), and she is currently working on her fourth book. Her poems have been published and read on the radio, on television, on the internet, in national and international magazines and newspapers and in anthologies around the world, and were translated by international poets into numerous languages such as Spanish, Bengali, Nepali, Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, Assamese, Russian, Albanian and Italian.
Iris's poems were presented in many prestigious and international exhibitions in Israel such as "Crowns of Winter" (January 2023), where a poem of hers translated into Bengali was displayed alongside poems by seven international poets, each translated and edited into Hebrew by her. Also the exhibition "Black-Red-White" displayed Iris's translated versions of poems written by five international poets. Most recently, Iris's poems, also translated into Chinese, Italian, Spanish and Arabic, were presented in the universal exhibition "Butterflies of Peace", which also included the poems of 21 poets from around the world, translated by Iris into Hebrew.
Iris's poetry reflects the inner journey of her soul, which looks through love, dreams of life and breathes holy and hidden worlds. Her poetry is a symbol and an expression of her victory over anorexia and her courageous decision to choose life and love.
The land of my heavenly skies of my poetic worlds in the wind of the worlds of holy hidden life.
My poetry is in the heart of the soul of the heaven land of holy halo wind of light, and in the soul of the heavens and worlds of my created soul, which bows, dances and prays for the nature of life of God and illustrates my longings to the journey of worlds of wind, love, life, holiness and the hidden from the depth of the flame of the storm. From desire, light, pain, fracture, loneliness, fear, hope, purity, femininity, motherhood and the eternal girl that breathes in me eternal worlds of holy hidden life.
"And in my living Iris soul, my spirit dances the living voice of the holy God life"
- Iris Calif
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