Micropoetry

                         take him
                      as your father
                  to never feel orphaned
                and he’ll take you by your
                    hand till you’re thru
       but know he’s more 
    than
     a father
      was sent 
       to be 
        close 
         closer
          to
           you
            than 
             you 

Make a list of all your battles
Brew some chai, take the trouble
Picking ones you can lose
Where the loss is tolerable

It may seem a bit defeatist
But a wise concession scatters
All your seeds of careful planning 
Left to harvest when it matters

How much longer do you have on this road
Will you make it to the end
Or is the end how far you make it

How much longer do you have on this road
Your exit’s coming up
You’ll know it when you take it

Let this world be your prison
And time be your friend
Who reminds you your time
Is nearing the end

If you taste from it morsels
Of Paradise, bend
To the dungeons of shukr
Khalid, once again

Imān
Is a nūr that
You carry everywhere
That someday it may find you light
To bear

Knowledge: it will get you
All the way to the gate
But you will only go through
If tawfīq is in your fate
You'll never know your fate though
Until it is too late

What you do is in your hands, my friend
And what you don't is in your hands as well

Think before you speak
Khalid think before you think
So your thinking doesn’t reek
Of those thoughts that tend to stink

There’s a sombre note
In a root cause analysis song
To a root cause analysis
Of a root cause analysis gone wrong

Don’t put your foot into your mouth
To take the conversation south
But if you must, step in with grace
And mind the locus of your face

Careful what you think, Khalid
Careful what you say
The latter being capable
Of turning you away

For every single word by you
Is primarily heard by you
And courses through your veins to seek out
Cells in which to play

So shut up and have a nice day