Last night I dreamed that I was at a gathering of many people. Many of them were strangers, all of whom were friendly and welcoming. Many of them, however, where family members, most of whom I had not seen for over twenty years, at the time of my mother’s passing.[…]
“If you don’t get out of my way, I’ll shoot you.” The man looks like ex-military or military wannabe but gone to seed, his crew cut greying and his stomach protruding, hanging loosely over his too-tight belt. He is pushing a shopping cart with a few items in it; a[…]
Today’s post is a guest post from my neighbor and landlady, Alice. She wrote this in response to a visit we made to a local Dairy Queen a few weeks ago. ———- I winked at you, slowly, and you relaxed. From where I sat in the Dairy Queen with[…]
A few nights ago a storm front rolled across our little patch of the Ozarks, a sigh of relief after a hot spell that seemed to be lasting forever. While most of the leaves are still green, I do notice a tree here, a patch there, bursting into the song[…]
I don’t remember a time when my mother wasn’t ill. I know in my head that she once was pain-free, moved easily, laughed with the careless abandon of a child. In my memory, though, she is always careful. Careful in the way she held her head, shoulders tense, as though[…]
The lid of the old plastic storage tub is difficult to pry off. A decade in storage has warped the plastic, wrapping it tighter around its burden of memories. A tug, a twist and it pulls free. Saudi white musk. I remember a nine year old Mujaahid, his face wreathed[…]
Waiting. Perfecting patience. Setting goals and working towards them one baby step at a time. Looking forward, keeping trust in Allaah. These have made up the last two months, months in which we are in a limbo between homes, out of one, but not yet in another. Walking the bridge,[…]
This afternoon I sat in the backyard and breathed. I breathed in the sound of cicadas surrounding me with a swirling crowd of pure joyous sound. I breathed the fur trees at my back, bending to whisper in each other’s ears, words lost on the low moan of the wind.[…]
Ten years since I last saw my older sister, Shaakirah. Ten years since I saw her daughter, then a blond haired whirlwind rushing through our house on a one night visit on their way to Morocco. Ten years since my sister and I had one of our long conversations, which[…]
Last night the moon rose large and luminous over the pine trees behind the neighbor’s house. Always beautiful, whether showing a sliver of bare shoulder above a gown of star speckled black or staring down at us, full-figured and lovely, proudly flaunting the rich curving body of night. Body of[…]
