voice, women, faith

A woman's voice
moves mountains
so does faith

an aerial view of loneliness

There you are 

standing tall like an elm 

overseeing the crowds, like from a plane 

an aerial view of loneliness 

birth and baptism

you sing about baptism before birth
how glorious, it is
the water

going back home

I am finally back 

you write to me 

I slip between sleep 

and waking to ask you 

what has been the most apparent 

difference you've seen over 

my body, the trees or the clear skies 

I hear you say 

the air, its different

smells like my childhood and your perfume. 

facing fear

like the start of a new month
like standing on a high tower
this is how we face fear

with a head that's never ready
with a heart that's careless

When does it come to life?

You ask, when does it come to life,
this passion- words exploding like sugar
when, you ask again
I tell you when faith returns once more.

one arrives, one departs

On the gateway,
in the same hour, like swallows my friends
one arrives, one departs from my hands.

Stick incense

Reminder of an India I have never seen
with my very eyes, the smoke rising slowly toward the ceiling
reminds me of an India I have never seen live
but heard in a northerner's Urdu wordings
a delicate Delhi accent, a Punjabi poet rising
like smoke out of ashes.

wisdom in everything

There's wisdom in everything
he says, the man who never learnt to read
gives me an example of the bees
how honey flourishes from their insides
how the sun moves from East to West
how the little worms create bacteria in the dirt
there's wisdom in every living thing,
there's wisdom in your heart
how it beats to keep you moving
even when you don't want to stand still.

A free weekend morning

Pour the coffee to your taste
three thirds black and blonde, this is how we refer to the bean

wait for the sun to clear out behind the clouds
it had risen while you were sleeping

dream big and believe in the beauty
of the rain as it drops past your window

don't think of it as loneliness
think of it as freedom to tell another tale

take time out to learn how your body
curves willingly into a dance of its own

a free moment is rare in this fast age
just take it slow.

Restoring faith

is a long process
the restoration of faith

it means there was a loss somewhere
a tie severed, yet still healing

without glue, plasters or all the stitching needed
for a possible regaining of belief

this is the thing about faith,
the power to believe in invisible wings

shielding your shoulders in big cities in the underground
walking next to you in the small towns,

this is the return of faith
you wear an old jacket that fits just right.

in times of desolation

Locked are the gates of the city
ones only opened by God

those who pray outside the fortified castle
hear the screams of the sinners inside the walls

those who do not pray will not come to understand
that a revelation only comes if you kneel on hard stone

skin in the night, not glowing
prayers never soft or slow

locked are the dates of the city
ones only opened by God

try as you might, the faithful can hear the sinners
murmur under their breath, that only prayer works
in times of desolation, like these minutes.