Ramadan Sonnet: What Sweetness it is

prostration1

What sweetness it is, in a
sea of bleakness, to
prostrate in the
prayer!

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said it was
the coolness of his eye.

Just about at the
edge of endurance, not wanting to do
much of anything, but having one
more prayer to do before
sunset, I stood, my
plum shirt glowing in accord with the
plum color in the
prayer mat, the
bird out of his cage, pacing back and
forth on
top, the sound of
water spray from the
kitchen somewhere in back of me, I

stood to do the
prayer, and an
immediate
sweetness
came over me, and a

kneeling that was like the
invisible disappearing down into the
visible as I
prostrated before the

Invisible
Presence

and felt
sane.


28 Ramadan 1986 (before sunset) (from Ramadan Sonnets)

Categories: Poems, Ramadan / 'Eid, Fasting