Khalid Mukhtar

Word, like wind, cuts through you / Withers all but true you

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

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.

Plant Remembrance

· ·

The prophet of Allah looked down at the grave
Of one who had once been a difficult slave,
He prayed for the soul and then sat on the ground
And planted upon it a sapling he found;


Then pressing his noblest of hands in the earth,
He served his companions a word of good worth:
How well does the tasbeeh of one little plant
Bring peace to a soul in a way the soul can’t!


These words are more precious than they seem to be,
They’re words of a lofty, ingenious Nabi,
So think, for they tell you much more than you think:
The thirst of a seeker survives the first drink.


If what does take root and smiles up at the sun
And sways in the breeze when a shower is done
Can widen the straits of the one in his grave,
Each rustling SubhanAllah helping the slave,


Then how much more worthy the tasbeeh of one
Who speaks and beseeches and weeps in the sun
And seeks a forgiveness for himself before
He seeks a forgiveness for them at the door!


So hear what the Messenger wants us to know,
He spoke for companions who knew he spoke so
And those who his legacy guard and protect,
Bequeathing us treasures that we might reflect.

Thursday Riddle (May 8, 2014)

· ·

I rest on a bridge, bending for years,
That I may be served whatever appears.
—————————————————

I’m given, I’m taken, I’m seldom forsaken,
I can be forgotten, cause pain when I’m lost,
I’m mostly defended whatever the cost,
And often encountered engraved or embossed.

Fishing

· ·

I really enjoyed my time this morning at a Daddy-daughter fishing outing. Thanks, Girl Scouts.


It’s a sunny bright morning, climbing hotter into higher degrees,

You can feel the light warming up the water in the Saturday breeze,
I’m taking in the sunshine while my daughter’s looking down at her line:
And no, the fish are not biting but who cares when the weather’s just fine.
I say Alhamdulilah for the grassy meadow kissing blue sky,
For shady willow, red robin, don’t forget the yellow butterfly,
I say Alhamdulillah for hearts that love and that to love incline,
And for the fish that aren’t biting, but who cares when the weather’s just fine.
I know the fish are not biting but who cares when the weather’s just fine.

Thursday Riddle (May 1, 2014)

· ·

Strike me to start me,
To end, just depart me,
You need at least two
To carry me through.
—————————————————-
It rises and falls like the snarl of a beast
Whose breath lingers hot on my ear,
A savage determined to render me feast?
The thought of it fills me with fear;
Then even as sorely I pity my plight,
I hear now a whistle, the coos of a child,
Then what sounds like rustle of leaves in the night,
Now guttural calls of the wild.

But when I can bear it no more,
I wake my beloved, who barely does rise
When all of the din dissipates with a roar
And leaves me to wonder if all of this madness
Is noises my brain did devise.

Thursday Riddle (April 24, 2014)

· ·

Heera Beta comes to town
Donning gold and purple gown.

Ganda Peeda bares it all
Till the morning robin call.

Rani Beti wears her flowers
Smiling up at morning showers.

Achha Baccha always seen
Dressed in hues of every green.
—————————————–
In a moment it is past,
Yet is present, don’t you see?
For as long as time may last,
Every moment it shall be.

The finest time to humbly turn
To Him unto whom all return.

Thursday Riddle (April 17, 2014)

· ·

Solve the one, resolve the other,
And then combine them both together,
Describing a product of ruinous weather.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
You hammer a nail in my face,
But I do not bleed when you do,
You taint me with words of disgrace,
But I do not heed words of you,
You may go no further beyond where I stand
Except through a portal proportioned and grand,
Although such a portal would often be bland.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Two parts of HAND one part of FOX;
A space in the hand won’t kill the effects,
But you can to free what is held by the locks.  
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Bazaar Rap

· ·

Tread with care: it’s the Internet.
You best beware of the sin in it.
You know how they call this thing the world wide web,
Eyes on your wallet and your every step
As you stroll through the streets of this crowded bazaar,
Take care who you meet, don’t you ramble too far,
Know the longer that you ramble, less the roses more the bramble;
E’en the roses aren’t safe in this party of dead,
Smell them LONG enough, and they will mess with your head,
Just walk right on keeping straight to your way
Past the shops by the hundreds, watching well what you say;
This bazaar will remember everything that you do,
Everything that you say, and everything said to you.
So, tread with care: it’s the Internet.
You best beware of the sin in it.