MM Arts | Poetry Day | 5-11-11

Welcome, it’s our monthly Poetry day again! If you want to share your verses with everyone here, kindly email us at poetry[@]muslimmatters[.]org stating your name, along with your poem. Our next Poetry day is on 3rd December, 2011.  As soon as your poem is selected for publishing, we’ll let you know so that you can keep an eye out for it, Insha’Allah. JazakumAllahu khayr for sending in your poems!

Without further ado, here are the three inspiring poems we’ve selected for today…

____________________________________________________________________________________

Peaceful Sleep
by Zaakirah Osman*

Her eyes are closed, she lies sleeping
The long black lashes sweep
Across like soft silk strands
Guarding a pair of emeralds

Oh, those rosy red cheeks!
I can still see the crease where dimples form
When she giggles with delight,
Her tiny fingers wrapped around my thumb
As though she would rather die
Than let go

Oh how peacefully she sleeps
Amid this bitter black war
The evil cackle of the devil in each bullet
From soulless eyes bringing only more

Carnage – wreckage – and bombing silence
Broken only by the eerie noise of nothing
Then I hear only my heart beating
Like a time-bomb
And my darling child-
She is still sleeping

Allah, give me that peace so that
I may sleep and not worry
If I shall wake to see
Another sunrise mocking me

My darling baby will wake and find
No more hate from shooting skies
No more cruel bouts of hope
No more fear in the trembling ground
For she is in heaven and I weep
Why can’t I sleep that peaceful sleep?

(*Author’s note: It is based on a picture I saw of three Palestinian children who were killed in a bomb blast but who looked like they were asleep. This was during the 2008 Israeli attack on Gaza but I feel that it is still relevant today with the Palestianian submission for statehood. I hope you will appreciate it. May Allah grant peace to this Ummah. Ameen!)

____________________________________________________________________________________

Poem
by Bouille Rochdi

You shall be buried alone
Never in pair!
For that lonely day,
Tell me,
What did you prepare?

How obedient were you?
How exemplary a slave?
What good deeds,
Will you take with you?
How would you enlighten
Your somber grave?

How would you die?
When death strikes
With her invisible ropes,
Dragging your lifeless corpse?
How would you die, then?
Would you die like a coward?
Or would you face death
With a heart faithful and brave?

You shall be buried alone
Never in pair!
For that lonely day,
Tell me,
What did you prepare?”

The Light Inside
by Nida Rashid

There is inside me, a weak ruler.
This light is its most sincere advisor.
There is inside me, some cravings, a desire.
This light is water to the world’s fire.
Curiosity, confusion, may take over, a while.
This light guides me, throughout each trial.
When this light goes dim, I’m a stranger.
One voice takes over and becomes a danger.
I become like the others indulging in play,
Thinking not of tomorrow, or of any coming day
Who I am, who I was, my identity I have lost,
Pushed aside what is real, and I’ve forgotten the cost.
The amusement however lasts not forever.
Life isn’t right, doing whatever.
I had not thought, but when I think,
I feel empty, in a sea about to sink.
I feel grieved, there is something wrong,
I am out of place; I don’t know where I belong
Wrong becomes easy, wrong seems right,
I cannot see in the day’s new night.
Living without a purpose, for fun, feels dead
Unsatisfying, cheap ‘cause I forgot what was said.
My heart is troubled; heedless of what is to come
If I continue this way, blind, deaf, and dumb.
The light inside me is covered with a net,
I am filled with a strong feeling of regret.
A sigh of relief, as I bow my head
As if I have awaken from the dead.
My rock of a heart melts,
Free from the restraining belts
A smile on my face, without a reason
This is the beginning of a whole new season.
And this light glows, and I feel elated
I am at peace and with the world unrelated.
In grief, in pain, I can smile,
My whole life feels worthwhile.
I’m special, I’m different, and they don’t realize,
that I feel the truth, amidst the many lies.
My life feels meaningful, I have my goal set.
Before this world, Paradise is what I want to get.
I feel content, feel loved, feel so alive.
To spread this feeling I need to strive
My mind, my soul, are satisfied,
My heart lets go of all its pride.
I Converse with the Lord of all
I am nothing, indeed I am small
His words, His call, I love to hear
Islam, Iman, is the name of my career
I pray to Him to keep it this way,
To guide me, to forgive me, is for what I pray
All praises are due to the One, the High,
Prostrating to him, I want to die.