For a long while I walked
with you by my side
only to realize
that our paths will never cross
Enjoy the view
my friend
this is all
you will ever have
When We Walked Together
The Sun Never Says
Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe
Me.”
Look
What happens
With love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.
Poem by Hafiz. Translation by Daniel Ladinsky
The Tango
There’s something wonderfully fascinating about trees that draws me in. And keeps me there.
Something mysterious, yet oddly familiar.
Their immobility, but through the will of nature’s elements.
Their submissiveness and flexibility, yet strong rooted resolve.
Their self-sacrificing nature, always sheltering, shading, protecting.
Their power of renewal, through a never-ending cycle of the seasons.
Their beauty, as full and diverse as nature itself.
And colors, ranging from the deepest blues to the highest yellows.
It is in the autumn, at the bottom of another rhythm, that they seduce me most.
A tango between light and hue, a dazzling spectacle to behold.
Capturing my soul, and not letting go.
There are stories yet to be told.
When You Were Loved
When every dream
has turned to dust,
and your highest hopes
no longer soar.
When places you
once yearned to see,
grow further away
on distant shores.
When every night
you close your eyes,
and long inside
for something more.
Remember this
and only this,
if nothing else
you can recall—
There was a life
a girl once led,
where you were loved
the most of all.
– Text from “When”, in Lullabies, by Lang Leav
Passing Time
I feel the end is drawing near,
would time be so kind to slow?
You are everything to me, my dear,
you are all I really know.
But as I sit and wait and fear
and watch the hours go—
Everything that happened here
happened long ago.
– Lullabies, by Lang Leav
Rebirth
The cycle of nature
brings back hope,
and promise
of a new beginning.
The Earth travels
around the sun
just to get back,
and relive this moment.
Pure and original
is the rebirth
when beauty awakes
upon spring’s first kiss.
Eid al-Fitr Mubarak
Every year, as the month of Ramadan draws close, I feel like standing before a mountain to be climbed, wondering if I will have what it takes to make it all the way to the top. This year, with 20-hour days in the middle of the summer, that mountain seemed taller than ever.
Now, with only a day left of of fasting, reflecting back, I admit to myself that I didn’t take the ideal route to the top. In fact, it wasn’t even a particularly elegant one. Still, somehow, I feel I got there. And I pray that it counts.
May Allah accept our sacrifices in the month that has passed, and grant us the opportunity to improve our efforts in the future.
Have a blessed Eid al-Fitr celebration!