|
In Southern California The palm trees...Their fonds Glisten in the sunlight Like Tinsel Reminding me of ice storm Everything Crystalized Icy, golden fingers reaching Deep, azure sky...the sun shining through Like a Chandelier Creating prisms 2 It is early morning in Massachusetts Paula, now Rahil, an Italian muslima Driving treacherously through This overnight ice storm Making her way to Eid prayer An artist, admiring the Beauty She has been purified like the air around her By Islam 3 I have walked through these New England snowfilled woods The air is frigid The warmth of scarf and mittens Furry security in my mouth All one hears is the cracking of ice And a few bird sounds The sound of a brook near by 4 Then Silence Spruce and hemlock A few pines...squirrels Tall, dark, wet, black trees Everything draped in snow I am sweating beneath a heavy, warm, jacket The presence of Allah Felt many places 5 But I have casually met Him here Stark solitude Snow twinkling like many stars Where all that is Real is He and I Nothing else matters or exists No place of worship...no great Cathedral Has ever been so beautiful As these New England woods As this quiet, pure place This is my mosque Which heals the soul 6 Especially beneath the falling snow Beneath a streetlamp Making soft noises The screeching of blue jays Small little chickadees with black masks Hopping on the ground My eyes watering The cold stinging my eyes 7 His words are written In the cracks of ice Upon the brooks One need not travel far to find Him He is here within The silence of ones heart 8 In California, I have found Him Within the tall mountains of Yosemite Covered with snow all year around Pine covered I am hiking with Yasmin, and children 10,000or more feet above sea level We are searching for a mountain lake We start climbing in hot July weather But along the way we meet snow 9 Some of us get altitude sickness We have to go back down We can not reach the lake There is pines and wild life around us Mountain lions and bear They are afraid of us Small rabbits 10 Every step I take I am in communion with Allah I am walking with Him We are climbing up Mt. Hamilton Black, gnarled trees...leafless...moss-covered Tearing at the gray sky Fields of snow.. Patches of gray rock The fog like guaze Lifting and falling Displaying intervals of the brown hills below Spotted with the same gnarled trees Pines heavy with cones 11 A very curving Mountain road The city of San Jose at a distance We are here to see Lick Observatory To see the Magnificent All Space...infused with Allah Whirls of Stars Colorful Nebulas...Allah's garment Gallaxies with millions of Suns like our own With Billions of planets And we are so infinitely small We live and die in a flash of God's second 12 Here we are...standing within 30 inches of snow Which has not fell in 50 yrs...within Allah's Silence Which is louder than a billion trumpets...take notice As Aman, Mahbub and I throw snowballs and take pictures We live in Allah's footsteps and talk with Him every minute Not only in our salat...but every second Submitted with Love by: S. Bushra Khan |
