Poetic Backlog!

July 20, 2007 in Poems of Love, Poems of Travel, The Poet's Eyes, The Poet's Tongue...

Peace, one and all…

I’ve not posted anything here for quite a while now, even though I’ve been posting poetry on my main blog.  Subhan Allah!  The pressures of life, eh!

Here are some of my most recent poems.  Enjoy and may the Beloved make them useful.

The Only Way To Win This Love

Relationships take time,
like a pearl formed
through long years
upon the Sea’s hidden floor.

Remember, O Soul, the Beloved you seek
does not unveil Her tresses,
except to one known
and accepted.

The only way to win Her Love
is to search out Her door,
at each dawn’s break,
at each night’s fall.

You Are The Hawk

Today I saw a hawk from my window,
a creature of beauty and grace,
effortless on the wing,
silent and deadly.

Its sharp gaze sweeps the ground,
earnestly seeking out its prey.
Longing for the kill,
fierce in its desire.

When I am open, Beloved,
You are the Hawk
and I,
the prey.

Seize me in Your Talons
and tear me away
from this narrow
heart of mine.

This Secret Game of Ours

Beloved, You are the Hunter
and I, the frightened prey.

Wherever I flee,
there You are lying in wait.

When I run towards the sun,
I find Your Face shining brightly.

When I scatter myself into darkness and woe,
the moonbeams of Your Glance strike my heart.

Walking gently amidst the hills,
I find You in wait amongst the trees.

Flying in delirium through the night sky,
the Light of Your Eyes radiates through the stars.

Beloved, I run to escape You
and the arrows of Your Love.

Or, perhaps,
I run so that You will give chase.

Either way, Thief of my heart,
let this secret game of ours never end.

Value Your Regrets

Before I had tasted this life,
in all its strangeness,
I used to say
‘I have no regrets’.

Before I had tasted this
bitter-sweet humanity
my heart would murmur
‘why waste time looking back?’

But now that I have tasted.
But now that this bitter-sweet life
has filtered into the very heart of me,
my views have changed.

I value my regrets,
as though they were living gold,
hidden within this world
as things rare and precious.

To regret is to hear
the inner voice of conscience,
saying
‘living in narrowness, you have wrought deeds of woe’.

Listen but a little further
and you will hear
your heart whisper
another secret.

‘If you do not accept and love
your own faulty humanity,
how will you ever come to know
the Vastness of Infinity?’

These Things Remain True

Things shift and change,
and all that once seemed certain
has gone from us,
departing upon an evening wind.

We run hither and yon,
looking for ground,
solid and sure,
upon which to walk.

Amidst all these
anxious uncertainties,
peace and safety
remain hidden and elusive

My friend, though times change,
as does the weather,
your truth remains within you,
in the slient beauty of your heart’s centre.

To speak a kind and gentle word,
to give aid on a day of distress,
to help and be helped in turn:
these things remain true.

Remember, my friend,
weather belongs to the external world.
Calmness, strength and nobility of purpose
to the pearl of your innermost self.

Is This The Path?

Is this the path?
Is it sorrow and joy?
Is it hope and despair?

Within the passing eternity of each moment,
these paradoxes crash like waves
against this hither shore of me.

I am buffeted
like a ship lost
amidst the Sea’s raging torrent.

Rolling, undulating.
I experience each rise like heaven,
each fall like the abyss.

But, the Sun of my Self
will drive away these storms
only once I accept life into the very heart of me.

Chivalry 

Of what good am I,
in this narrow prison of me,
if I do no good for others?

Of what use am I,
in this lonely space of me,
if I am not used to serve others?

I do not know,
Beloved.
That is for You to judge.

Let me race swiftly
to the side of those downcast
and oppressed.

Remember, O Soul,
you are not freed from your duty to help the weak
merely because your own heart is bleeding and diseased.

Aid those in distress.
This is the path of chivalry,
this and nothing else.

Bow to your Humanity

Bow to your humanity
and reverence it
deeply.

It is the only thing you have, my friend,
your only lasting possession
amidst the changing fortunes of the world.

Value your fragile soul
and honour your blessed
weakness.

Your ability to fail and fall,
and to rise again,
is a gift but rarely bestowed.

Treasure your limitations,
and all your brave attempts to
surpass them.

Here is the truth of it, my friend,
laid bare,
as far as I am able.

If your humanity were a thing despised,
you could not hang your head in sorrow,
or lift it again in hope.

If you were other than human,
what need would you have of relationship,
what desire would you feel for Love?

Woman

You were there at the beginning,
on the day I came
into this world of strange possibilities,
and you have been with me ever since.

And, though you have worn many faces,
and spoken words of meaning
in many tongues,
it is still your eyes I see.

So let me speak now a word of gratitude.
Let me take this moment
and shape it
into a thought of enduring thankfulness.

Woman, I have loved you my whole life.

Hornets

Sometimes we all need
the sweet gift of honey,
else life becomes stale
and its wholesome vigour lost.

But, seek it out too often
and we are held firmly
within its sugary prison,
a jail of our own choosing.

And, should we stay too long,
the fruitful bees of life’s sweetness
become hornets of vicious desire,
stinging and scratching and biting.

As I walk through
these flower-laden meadows, Beloved,
let me take only what I need,
lest I am stung by the hornets of my darker half.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman