Look back to where you were
how you were
why you were
kneeling by that hospital bed
while the little life left in her
left her
No sir
It gets cloudy some days
the fog never lifts
on days you can’t tell
curses from gifts
Look back to what you were
a miserable khalid with a rhyme
more broken each time
you try to make it better I’m
the you I’m speaking to
piecing together meaning
from a storm of words that makes earfall
but never reaches heart
It’s here again
loss
growing on my beating rock
like a layer of moss
green, green
and alive
just like hope
in that everliving oneness
My soul gets all the life it needs through
one drop of blood from the pool
welled into the sandals of a man
mocked and knocked and shunned
but refusing brokenness
because he saw the One
hope as long as there is life
and life
as long as there is hope
Poetry
Weed Cinquain
you’ve seen
how the light shows
every blade of grass grows
differently and to different lengths
of green
On My Dear Brother Omar’s Recent Visit to Al-Quds
I wanted to surprise my family
So up and to Jerusalem I went
I touched down when the soldiers came for me
It seemed as if the questions wouldn’t end
They didn’t Every checkpoint was the same
Until I reached the room where I would stay
I rested first then went in Allah’s name
To Masjid Al-Aqsa in time to pray
Salaam in every corner of that space
Is this the spot my nabi was Imam
To lead a congregation cast in grace
Unmatched from its takbir to its salaam
The love I found on faces there eclipsed
Their grief that never passed through grateful lips
As It Is
Heed advice that tempers you khalid
So you see things for what they are
Just like that sweet prophetic prayer
That steels the heart and stills the air
Cinquain, Prophetic
if you
cannot act then
speak and if you can’t speak
at least condemn it strongly in
your heart
Lifes
Life after death:
longevity isn’t a concern
quality of life is
Life before death:
don’t miss the big hint
as you squint
at the small print
Get Up
how can you be lost
if you are exactly where
He wants you to be
no khalid you are
on your way as long as you
don’t think you’ve arrived
On Altruism
We give and often think we love to give
But hear the warner school us about giving
How can we be called altruistic if
Our contributions barely dent our living
Our paragons they come from two: one glad
To leave behind their home and wealth and kin
The other hosting them with all they had
Despite the difficulty they were in
Such was their love for him who bound their hearts
In sweet eternal brotherhood that when
He called for contributions to the cause
One gave one half, the other, everything
So khalid, swipe your card and puff and preen
You’re all the altruism you have seen
Inspired by a portion of this Tafsir session delivered by Shaykh Amin on May 5.
Boomerang Pie
The bitter center baked in deep
Deep within the luscious pie
Of “how could they”
Is “how could I”
That Hurts
Why do we press our lips together
To hold back a tear
Maybe that holds the clue
To why when you
Are smitten there
Do I wince here