Visitation

For a prisoner, reality hits the hardest when his loved ones make a long trip to visit with him. Brief moments of dreaminess, but once the visit is over, life for him proceeds in the must heart-sickening way. 

Habeebi..

With glint in your eyes like honey in the sun.

With unknowingness in the “now,”

Like a fugitive on the run.

With a thousand eyes squinted on,

Two inseparable separatees

Savor fleeting seconds in a single kiss,

I stayed your gaze in my gaze and acquiesced-

Piece by piece- to a prisoner’s loss of peace;

When man goes to bed without his manhood bed,

Then, in yearning, grows his sun-shy morning

For the ones who brought his mornings meaning.

I acquiesced to this deliberateness,

When man laments and grieves and craves

The father who’s hemmed in the heart of his.

I acquiesced to this non-rarity

When mediocrity scrapes thin the skin of men,

While men drape in the skin of mediocrity.

With no love for enemy, nor blind enmity,

I stayed your gaze in my gaze, habeebi,

And wished I could step closer, a toe closer

And wrap my arms around your coldest nights,

And camp my heart around your cruelest frights,

And scan your Arabian eyes, count their lashes,

Memorize their mazes– verbalize their sighs,

I wish I could cup my hands around your jawline,

And rub away the tears that filled your cup and mine.

Habeebi,

I wish I could cling closer, a pulse closer

And let my heart console your heart,

And let my breath console your breath

Until my heart ran out of breath..

And died—  For you, my loved, I died.

I wish I could lean my head like some clueless child,

And rest my chin against your bashful neck

Then, at ease, acquiesce– and in peace I crash

Like when cold, but deep-in-love wavelets wallow

Into the assuring warm-heartedness of shoreline.

Habeebi.

 (“Habeebi”  ~ Arabic for “My Love”)

To learn more about the Holy Land Foundation case please visit Freedom to Give.