A bridge and long shadows
Span the gorge and river roaring
There a portal offers
Welcome unknowns
In a forest of possibility

Ascend to alabaster fields
Where breezes rustle petal clouds
With their hoards of golden nectar
There to rob the gold
And leave the flowers fallow

Come hither, sighed she
This sweetness I shall offer you
Soft petals parted

To frailty
There is a power
Borne of compassion

When compassion fails
Frailty is where the boot comes down
The hardest

I often wish
That I could perceive time
Like a hummingbird does
Slow the world down
And watch the air ruffle its feathers
On every delicate beat
Hear the swish of its wing
Rather than the hum and blur
Of time compressed beyond imagining

I often wish
That I could perceive time
Like mountains of stone
Or a star
Minutes pass like seconds
Epochs turned as the sun crosses the sky
To watch the birth and death of solar systems
The way in one short life
I’ve seen the comings and goings
Of family and fame

But this is the time I’m given
And but for the tricks
Of cameras and imagination
This is all the time I have
So best to try and wrench from it
Every moment I can experience

Within the chamber
Starry light
Small portals fill
The darkest night
With glow enough
To see my way
Then find again
The light of day

This forest of stone
Rotting on the desert plain
Rain the destroyer

A promise of possibility coming
Here the night made bright
Though by no small trickery
And patience

Moonglow breaks the darkness
While the stars take flight
In the cool blue of winter chill
But for the warmth of amber hearths

The world begins
To turn again
No longer still
Though somnolent, still

The long exhale
Following the deep, deep breath

The moment which moves
Between the change
And knowing
There is no going

back

Such exquisite line
Forms an art without figure
The face of Islam