Love Like That

We say we know love
and marvel at the capacity
of our hearts for it

But our love is springtime showers
flowinto a shallow puddle
that forms just outside our doorstep
reserved for us and ours

There is another love
that of a man who sat many a time
in a corner of the mosque
his mosque
silent

you would hear no sniffle
see no shudder upon his form
but if you came around
you would see
tears
warm
rivers on his blessed cheeks

falling into clear pools of grace
one pool for each of us
praying we find our ways home
and not to the other place

All those pools form the ocean of
Rahmatan lil ‘aalameen
which is more than a notion of
love, a brand we’ve never seen

We don’t know
love like that