unvanquished
I sailed twenty times
In seven years through
Surah seas of calm swells
Pushed by winds of conscience
Twenty times I charted their
Depths – truly Pacific –
Before I knew that I
Knew nothing
When tranquil winds lifted
La ilaha illallah I heard a soft Muhammadur Rasulullah Slip without thought from my lips
A book read twenty times asked
When I would embrace its truth
And in a small stillness I replied
Now oh Lord, Now
Hands clenched, passions wrenched
Hearts ablaze, these days of rage
Shouts in the air, pauses for prayer
Streets, squares, mosques, theirs
Hearts freed, knees bleed,
Proud, aloud, unbowed crowd
Freedom sought, its shape unthought
Unknown ideal, substance not real
Grass is greener, democracy leaner
Cigarette smoking, despots choking
Forgotten youth and unseen truth
Confused eyes, fleeing spies, sons’ lies
Streets, squares, no longer theirs
Ranting, railing, panting, flailing
Heads full of pain, nothing to gain
Power grasping, compromise asking
Opportunity lost, everything cost
Posterity crushing and the end fast rushing
I read your words and hear whispered reminders
As my tired eyes struggle across dots and black curves
While I ponder and wonder and stare holding my chin
As wisdom tries to sneak inside crowds of thoughts on life
I read your words and hear my slow breathing, deep
And know that on that day it will cease and I’ll sleep
And then blink inside your sun-drenched calmness
As I step forward to hear your thoughts on my life
I read your words and feel the tug of sad conscience
And know whom I’ve let down, helped and annoyed
When you wanted more and yet I gave so little
And wasted time as I walked too quickly through life
I closed my eyes darkly and called back your words
And slid them silently from my tongue into my room
Where they’ll circle and swarm close to my pillow
As I ask for their meaning and the warmth of their life
I spoke your words quietly to friends and strangers
With the force of a hurricane, unnoticed, so soft
While I knew that the wind would tug later at thoughts
And poke hearts with gentle fingers on the hand of life
Great whales’ hearts thud
Allah … Allah
Eight times
Each grey
Minute
The hummingbird calls
Faster, much faster
The name in
A whir of
Acclamation
Knuckly stiff fingers
Count misbahah beads
In resin while
The mind strokes
Each for a second
A baby’s colic cry
And a mother’s
Soft shushing
Hold a meaning
Understood
The aches of the
Lonely and penitent
Are never felt
By only
One
In everything lives
The memory of
An echo of
that First word
“Be”
Tool, cruel, mistaken fool, grabs for fame, causes shame
Christ would cringe, this done in his name
Flames winning, Shaytan grinning, charred mess, success
Promise spoken, entirely broken, failed a single test
Eyes blind, blackened mind, should’ve read the book
A tiny pyre, the world’s ire, three minutes all that it took
Wanted, gained, anger blamed on Muslims always hated
Love missing, wisdom dismissing, happy with Muslims baited
Anger unbound, fists pound, Shaytan fanning the flames
Control left behind,
