#36
Around it goes
With its sharp, little nose;
Can opens, but can’t close.
#37
Never travels, stays in bed
Yet compelled to rest ahead.
Poetry
Toe Disciplined
I skinned my big toe on the sidewalk yesterday,
Comes from doing stupid at the age I’m at;
When the brain has the body execute a crazy play,
Most ingenious imaginings go splat.
Came the time to sit down, put myself in that toe,
Set to ponder why this tribulation come,
Everything that comes to pass, each insignificant blow
Is a lesson that a story has become.
So I thought, and I sought, as this left big toe of mine,
Any reason for my violent defacement,
But I couldn’t find an answer till I happened on a sign
Clarifying the physics of big toe placement:
Getting down on my knees just to tender a prostration
Proved to be a source of pain that burned and shocked;
It is so that I learned navigating my frustration
That my toe is where my arrogance lies locked.
I know why, I know what; so this lesson I will heed,
And the Lord be praised for such big toes that bleed.
Thursday Riddle (June 5, 2014)
Lanis McAllous is bound
Somewhere on hospitable ground,
Delivering traces in all of the places
That Lanis McAllous be found;
Carefully tows wherever he goes
His lodging without any sound.
——————————————
Absent from air,
Absent from water,
The fast shall run less
When the temperature’s hotter.
Counting Sha’baan Moons
The cup is full, can take no more,
And each new drop lets to the floor
The stains that show and slowly grow,
The cup is full, can take no more;
I know my tears can wash these stains,
If I could weep till none remains,
I need those nights, despair be gone,
All grief be lost when splash upon
Me mercy waves that wash the shores
Of dark rebellion once more;
Bring me those nights, despair be gone
With your angelic hum of dawn;
I dash my cup upon the floor,
And long for sips of Ramadan.
Thursday (May 29, 2014)
Black and white,
Nailed, then red;
Renains conposed
This natter said.
This natter said.
—————————————————
Though given, it never decreases,
From many a darkness releases,
Miserly the one from whom never spared,
For true can it be only when it is shared;
For true can it be only when it is shared;
Once had, all conjecturing ceases.
The Companion
Last night I attended a lecture by Shaykh Amin in which he delivered a fresh perspective on the Israa wal Mi’raaj, one through the lens of constant companionship.
What made him to say what he said
When the news of the journey by night
Celebrated on tongues, danced in hearts that were dead
To the songs of rejection and spite;
But what made him do what he did
(This companion we call Al-Siddeeq)
Is a knowledge so subtle, entirely hid
Except to the one bent to seek.
Destined to be standing by our
Most beloved Rasul and Nabi
In a dark little cave in a difficult hour
As hard as an hour could be,
To join him to Yathrib, and there
Through the battles and stretches of peace,
To remain his companion beyond all compare,
With a love never knowing decrease.
And so on the night when the Lord
Took his slave on a mount that was bound
Past the waters the reaches of time cannot ford
Where all matter and space run aground;
It is true that Jibreel could not walk
Past the Lote, that magnificent tree,
It is where none of angel or human may flock
But for our beloved Nabi;
Above, the Nabi with his Lord,
While below was his friend rapt in prayer:
Did The Lord to his worshipping slave so afford
This companion in every affair.
The observation regarding Abu Bakr’s (RA) engagement in worship during the course of the prophetic journey is attributed to Shaykh al-Akbar, Muhyiddin ibn ‘Arabi.
Thursday Riddle (May 22, 2014)
Born of metals, rises, settles,
Beckons undeparted petals
And all when the end is met;
In a caliph’s epithet.
Scooping Up Tadpoles on A Sunny Afternoon
Just give me a balmy day, a sunny sky A stream, a bridge and no reason to be soon A friend with a hand that refuses to stay dry As we scoop up tadpoles in the afternoon I cannot tell what makes me happy more The feel of tadpoles dancing in my hand Or whining and pretending to be sore That we might stay much longer than we planned The coolest thing about our time together Is how we didn't think about the weather When the rain cut short our fun time at the stream There will be places you and I can dream Of things to do if it weren't for the rain If it be with you, it's easy on my brain Alhamdulillah! Till we meet again Alhamdulillah for friendships that remain
Thursday Riddle (May 15, 2014)
My mother is heavy, my father is light,
And though you can see me, you can never free me
From where I exist taking all in my sight.
Sonnet on the Futility of Placing a Familiar Face
You ever see a face you’ve seen before,
Then start to wonder when or where that was?
You glance askance while lined up at the store,
Or crane your neck at traffic lights because
You really want to catalog that face,
Although you do not need to, not one bit,
But you know tagging it with time and place
Will make these wasteful moments seem legit.
Should you get out of line and turn around
Or make your way across a busy street
Until that wretched face you seek is found
Indifferent to your manner indiscreet?
If such a face familiar you find,
Attribute it to capers of the mind.