Upon Returning & Others

Upon returning

from the abyss of beauty,
Scents of skewers and sweets,
Smoke and salt,
Seas and sunshine and
iqamahs and salaams,
Heritage and legacies marked on
buildings and elders, in song and dance,
in cigarettes and fanageen,

                                                     Standing on that line,
                                                        moving as molasses,
                                       greeted by star-spangled banners and
                                                           ‘never forgets,’
                                                   I ask myself, each time,
                                         What is it I’m coming back to? And
                                                   each time, I find myself
                                             having fewer and fewer answers
                                                          to that question.

Impermanence is Astonishing

Impermanence is astonishing.

I would not be here if I was
Stuck in my ways, shearing my soul,
Poisoning my well with words I wished
I’d never said, not to me, nor others,
And so, impermanence is astonishing,
For we all mature and Return
For in this plane, we are called to worship— that is plain as day,
And as night,
Because impermanence is astonishing;
Everything cycles and recycles—
Sun to moon to sun to moon to
       Sea to clouds
            to rain
            to river
            to crops
            to growth
            to food
            to grow
 In mind, in body,
        in spirit,
        in soul,
        in heart,
        in height (maybe?)
In wisdom,
      in care,
      in strength,
      in honor
Because impermanence is astonishing
You scoff now but by the Heaven and the Star,
When you meet who you can become tomorrow you might
Turn around one day and see your younger you yearning for what
You’re now blessed to carry
And you’ll want to reach with your hands, broader with life,
Place weighted care on that dear child’s shoulder,
And you, silver streaked, scarred, furrowed, serene,
Knowing impermanence is astonishing
Knowing you cannot tell them of what’s to come,
Can only stand firm and say, your story will yet begin,
For life starts now.

Reflect

That Catalyst, in defiance of the defiant
This Holy Scripture,
God-certified criterion,
It is a shield, or a bridge to build
To infinity, to beyond,
It will answer, it will account,
It will speak of how we endured like Yunus,
Radiated like Yusuf, obeyed like Ibrahim,
We are all universes, expanding, as was written
In this Tanzeel, gliding down from the Divine Domain,
Look, look, in this alone, is a sign, for you and I
Reflect.