Simply

Phew. I really haven't posted in a while - a while being an entire college semester. Though I now post with less frequency, I'd like to think that my posts have come a long way from a few years ago, when I would post little content just for the sake of getting something up on the blog. I think I finally realized that I write on this blog for myself, not to supply a content hungry audience with empty banter (though I do really appreciate the few of you that check this out from time to time!). Anyway, enough about my lack of content. Being home has reminded me of the beauty of solitude and quiet, a solitude infrequently found amongst the Vassar College campus (as beautiful as that wonderful place is). My friend Rob recently reminded me of my past love for poetry, a love he ignited with his reminder.

So, On Solitude

I stood there waiting
Waiting not for a what
But who
Who stood there with me
Out upon this black, empty space?
The only guidance
Two thin yellow lines
Straight, forever
Was this my destiny?
I seemed to think so
My body so content
Peaceful, almost
A light descended upon my face
I slowly looked
Ah, simply the moon
A light descended upon my chest
Ah, simply a car
A light descended upon my being
Ah, simply God
Simply?
What is simply, who is simply, why is simply?
Implying ineptitude
Denying beauty
This is not simple
This is truth
I stepped aside from the car
A sage
In a suburban wasteland
All because of simply?
Well, my friend
Simplicity is truth.

Goodnight

There can be so much serenity, found amongst the dark
My ears feel the breeze of vibrations formed elegantly
Sometimes I like to question pessimism
Sure, maybe I have quite the good life
But here, on this raft, all is right
I am a man enclosed, yet so free
Looking up at my boundaries
I feel so liberated, floating above the cracked brown floor
The moon enters the room, a waxing crescent
Brushing aside the darkness, letting in light
Wait a second....am I dreaming?
It's simply the white of my smile.

Samir

"Yet even as I spoke, I was flooded with a scary mixed feeling of both remorse and fear, and I prayed to God that Samir would beg me to changed my mind so that I would not lose face. And, lo and behold, he did. 'But Fatima,' Samir said, 'God is the only one who creates beauty. It is not by applying henna, ghassoul - that vulgar clay - or any of those other dirty concoctions, that you'll transform yourself into the moon."

One of my favorite quotes from a book I've been reading recently:

Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi
Said by Samir, a 9 year old boy living in a Muslim Harem in Fez, Morocco

Beauty

As the brushstrokes collaborated to create a new work of art, I simply smiled and appreciated the wonder of it all.