Sand that sails,
touched by the salt of sails
that steer the boats toward their longings.
Shorelines scattered, while the land expands
to face the cities.
A homeland sailing through every soul
that intends to make it home.
Houses and winding, mischievous alleys,
hiding their secrets, lowering their walls,
to soothe the faint traces of a childhood
that still remains.
The Motherhood of a Lifetime
The scent of barbecue
along the roads of return from a lesson half-dreamed.
A flutter of greetings, sent freely,
longing for every heart.
An old man rolling along his shadow,
his cloak, and whatever patience he has left.
Grandmothers who have deliberately lingered in age.
Young boys wrestling with mischief.
A dust that never settles.
A Sovereign Summer
And a love that looks around
before unwrapping the folds around its heart.
My homeland—
the fragrance of a memory that rises.
My father’s prayer beads,
my mother’s necklace.
The cries of my siblings,
the gentleness of my home.
The folds of my heart,
the tenderness of my garden.
A palm tree
that reveals its shade to no one but me.
My homeland—
the sigh of an exhalation moving through the chest.
The graceful sway of palms
on evenings that touch the heart.
A white ghutra drifting softly,
an agal wrapped in the darkness of the passage.
Sandals worn with ease,
and the ringing of bracelets
celebrating love.
A shimmering abaya
and veiled shadows.
The cries of vendors
wandering from one emptiness to another.
A noon that neither quiets nor sleeps,
before a childhood that nudges absence awake.
Polished pearls,
deep divers weaving the difficult
with patient hands.
Pearls rich with the glory of a bygone age.
Ships lined side by side,
sailing slowly.
An extended song,
and waves upon waves.
The harshness of throats
crying out their ache
toward a horizon that cannot see the sea.
As I Love Her