Some months ago, I came in touch with artist Aquil Virani who told me that he was planning to publish a bilingual art anthology titled “Ottawa Inshallah”. This project is designed to represent Muslims and strengthen the communities through pluralism, futurism, and arts. “Ottawa Inshallah” project has received the “City of Ottawa’s Diversity in the Arts” fund; and, it is sponsored by the City of Ottawa, Silk Road Institute, and Canadian visual artist Aquil Virani.
Now here is a little bit about my poem “Open Letter to Climate Change Activists”. This entire poem is based on visions that I received through multiple lucid (clear) dreams—I receive creative and precognitive (true) dreams. It is a fact that climate change is influencing everyone’s dreams. There are times when I fly out of my body while asleep; and, then instead of getting to the desired destination, I end up getting trapped inside bad weather. I have seen so many things through such visions including the locust plague, coming of coronavirus and its aftermath, Dorian flood, burning of some regions in Malaysia, and dying birds. Read blog posts “Lucid Dream About Dead Birds“, “Did I Receive Some Sort Of Warning From Malaysia?” and “Link Between Plagues and Freedom“.
When the time came to figure out what to publish for this anthology, I composed three submissions; and, only one of these was a poem. I created this poem by reviewing some of my dreams. This poem has a couple of sections namely Locust Plague, Coronavirus Pandemic, Climate, and The Beginning. Aquil has posted a video about this anthology here; see Aquil’s website.
The launch event for “Ottawa Inshallah” project is on Oct 21, 2021 at 6 pm EST. You may join the Zoom party by clicking on the link found on Aquil’s site under heading “How can I purchase a copy? When is the launch event?” And, don’t forget to get your own copy so that you may be able to see the arts created by Ottawa-based Muslim artists.
Enjoy!

Copyright © by Arzoo Zaheer. All Rights Reserved.
Thanks for sharing Arzoo!
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You are welcome Vahid! I am hoping to cause some change. More than 80% of the world’s population is affected by Climate Change. Read article “Scientists estimate 85% of world’s population affected by climate change” https://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-estimate-85-of-worlds-population-affected-by-climate-change/
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