insert yourself here...

(an autobiographical recollection)
insert yourself here...

here a woman on the news
is crying because
in a fire, her home disappeared.

here a dog is tortured,
beaten and nearly dead
because he peed
in his owners flower bed.

here a child is an orphan
living under a bridge
with a dozen other orphans.

here geese return again,
the pond gone, the field gone,
now there is a mansion.

here is a grandmother
who must choose between food
or a day where arthritis doesn't hurt.

here you are
watching the news
while you eat your supper
and though you hear
what is being said,
your heart is dead.

learning to...

jotting down words
meaningless without You
and there are no words
to describe what happened
when my life opened up
the scent of my soul
like the dawn

why have you forgotten punctuation?
the teachers ask

i tell them
i haven't

where are the poems?
friends ask

nowhere
i say
and everywhere
why are you asking?

you have changed
my mother sighs

mama
i am in Love
thats all
nothing
else
i

pick up an eraser
and Allah erases
who i was
and
Allah builds
my new life
with faith
with hope

did i make a mistake?
i ask when i look
in the mirror
and my heart opens
and i know
certainly

only through Him
i am