Silencio.

Find me where the cacophony of sounds
meets the deafening silence.
Devoid of noise pollution,
where our bodies do the talking.

Search for me in the unbeaten drum,
I hide in guitar strings that have yet to be plucked.
Most evident in the pregnant expectation
of an audience awaiting an orchestra's first notes.

Where aria meets melody, 
and where the beat tickles the rhythm;
you will notice me dancing between the lines,
like a whirling dervish, intoxicated.

I am in the sighs, and the frustration,
every exhalation between lovers in a spat.
There is much of me in their reconciling,
in the fire that rekindles their romance.

Listen closely and you will hear me, 
in the few moments of silence 
before the birds arise.

That is when I am most serene,
when I feel as tranquil as the sun 
that is about to fill the sky.

At the bottom of the ocean,
where it is eerily quiet,
I can be heard singing with 
the whales who break the intimidating silence.

When you are sad or lonely,
hush your mind and listen to your heart,
I will always live inside you, 
for that is where I end and where I start.

Save Your Misery.

Save your misery, to darken someone else's room.
I have had my fill, it's hard to carry on.
Your rainclouds won't go away, they stain the world with gloom.
Please just leave me alone, my sympathy is all gone.

I have had my fill, it's hard to carry on.
You prey on my happiness, and chase away my dreams.
Please just leave me alone, my sympathy is all gone.
Find somebody new to abuse, as I drain the poison from my bloodstream.

You prey on my happiness, and chase away my dreams.
Your rainclouds won't go away, they stain the world with gloom.
Find somebody new to abuse, as I drain the poison from my bloodstream.
Save your misery, to darken someone else's room.

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

I feel my soul crying 
immediately behind my face,
the tears refuse to be released, 
they only press against 
the inside of my cheeks.

With heavy breath like 
there is a stone weighing 
down on my chest.
How am I to feel when they have 
waged war against innocence.

Retreating into myself for I am 
unsure of how I can help.
As futile as prayer or tossing 
coins into a wishing well.

Take my hand, the least I can 
do is comfort you.

Breaking down, I fall apart 
from hearing the news.

What can I do to assist 
my brothers and sisters,
when privilege reigns in this 
poorly built system of resistance.

No weapon formed against us 
was ever supposed to prosper.

Who am I to trust when 
I can't even have 
faith in the gospel.

Perhaps I am naive to continue 
carrying my dreams,
although they might as well 
be held in coffins.
Leaving me burdened as they 
strip me of my conscience.

The current state of affairs 
has left me feeling hopeless.

Has the whole world gone blind 
or have we just become desensitized?

Numb to the injustice 
that has become as natural 
as the clouds that stain 
the cliched, clear blue skies.

We need a revolution, 
or at least a resolution.

There is no humanity when 
hatred has left the world polluted.

How can we continue to feign 
ignorance to these circumstances?

Once, I learned that race was 
just a social construct 
and I almost believed it,
until I opened my eyes 
and saw all the inherent 
corruption that exists.

Fabricated to create 
a rift between us,
separating, segregating, 
sedating and now 
it cannot be reversed.

Perhaps focusing on all 
that we have in common,
instead of drawing lines 
designed by our differences
could bridge the distances
between us.

We shall overcome!  
There is power in numbers.

Shameful to think brutality 
is what it took to awaken 
the sleeping from their slumber.

Who can say what 
we might accomplish,
if we aspired to undo 
the centuries of brainwashing
until all of the hate is abolished.

When we bond together
ignoring their profiling
of races; we can heal
and free ourselves from 
oppression and its cages.

Edhi.

You are familiar with ISIS, Boko Haram,

and I believe you even know the Muffin Man.

Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Gaddafi

are other famous names who fit

the narrative that demonizes Islam.

But I can guarantee, without a doubt,
that you have never heard

of the recently deceased Abdul Sattar Edhi,
for he was insignificant despite his existence
as a polarizing figure focused on the needy.

His altruism did not allow him to see caste,

religion, or creed; Edhi embodied

asceticism despite being surrounded by greed.

Philanthropy should feel fortunate

to have benefited from his brilliance.

All jokes aside, he was nicknamed

the “Angel of Mercy” for being

one in more than two hundred million.

He created a charitable empire

despite lacking any funding.

Proving determination is all it takes to create something from nothing.

Edhi was even dubbed the “Father Theresa” of Pakistan.

But once again, I must declare that our media

purposely ignored him because he was not

another mindless member of the Kardashian clan.

Exemplary of the positive aspects of

the Abrahamic religion he followed,
Edhi rescued abandoned infants.
rehabilitated orphans,

and even trained nurses.

Once reproached for his assistance of Non-Muslims

in his ambulances, when he was questioned for supporting
Hindus and Christians, he classically retorted

by explaining his vehicles were better adherents

of these bigots' twisted understanding of their own religion.

So I beseech thee, why is he still relatively unknown?
Is it because his beard and style of dress fit the description

of whom we are told to fear, by reporters we invite into our homes?

Whatever it is, I will do my best to ensure his becomes a household name,
he may not have wanted it whilst living, but soon his charity-work will be acclaimed.