Hand of Light

KAABA

A crater opens in the day
and swallows us whole

Though we may want to
wander at the base of it

asking for water
we do not

Instead we lean back against its diamonds
and act nonchalant

Inside us huge circular processions
flow around God’s cubical House

They are incessant and
no one seems to mind

In fact each one of them is
ascending a diamond mountain so

near Allah’s intimate Hearing they
brush against the unspeakable

tenderness there that makes even
stones weep

This is a time like no other

We wouldn’t barter it for the world

If the world knew its worth they would
demand its largesse in even

larger quantities and
pay for it with their lives

Perhaps it’s a
secret kept pure by being

kept secret

Yet its essence is no secret at all
but so well known every citizen alive

vibrates heartfully at its deep harmonious
core

one month of the moon
in its death and rebirth to clear silver

no one escaping from God’s
hand of Light passing over them

to set them free into the

captivity of His love


8/15/11   15 Ramadan (from Ramadan is Burnished Sunlight)

Categories: Poems, Ramadan / 'Eid, Fasting