A Little Blue Bird

A little blue bird

Trapped in its golden cage
Looking through the window

Envying every fluttering butterfly
Every swirling leaf
Envying the wind that carries dew on its wings

The bird too has wings
Beautiful feather wings

Looking through the window
The bird would cry
How can he be a bird
But still he cannot fly?

-A Poem by Mariam A.

Photo by: Unique-Muslimah

A Moment in the Life of a Poet

On a blank sheet of paper
I try to scribble a few words
My pen pauses instantly
My eyes quickly scroll down the page
I find myself ripping that paper apart
Jumbling it spontaneously
And adding it to a collection of similar pages
Scattered randomly beneath my chair

I take another sip of tea
It’s now cold as ice

Where are my words?
They’re imprisoned by darkness
In deep dungeons in the back of my head

The bottle of ink stands before me
Daring me to free them
Daring me to be heroic

I grab another sheet of paper
I reach for my pen
And accidentally hit the ink bottle
It spills
A big blue shiny puddle
Now occupies the blank sheet

My words are liberated!
I can see them swimming joyfully
Splashing and swirling in the puddle
I smile
My words are now free…

-Mariam A.

The Story of A Man

This Poem is dedicated to all those who have been abused in the name of truth.

This is the story of a man

A story of faith and hope

A story of struggle and survival

A story of life...

It begins with the tears of a mother

It tells of wolves on the form of humans

And a dream that never saw the light of day

It’s a story of a man

Who witnessed his life being slaughtered!

His dignity being murdered!

His soul being stabbed!

His faith being punished!

His love blown away...

And yet... he lived

It’s a story of a man

Accused of existence

Abused with persistence

Denied of his right be human

And as the minutes and months passed by

Days seemed endless

And nights seemed morningless

But he never lost faith in Allah

This is a story of cruelty and injustice

And the concealed dark side of man

I can't tell this story

It couldn't be told in words

It’s carved on the remains of a broken heart

And painted with dry tears

I am sorry to disappoint you

But this story isn't of rainbows and ponies

Nor of happy dancing elves

It’s of reality

Cold

Cruel

Harsh

Unbearable reality

This man might have his happy ending

But soon... this story will find another man to tell of

-A Poem by Mariam A. (me)

A Letter to The Moon

Dear Gentle Moon,

Floating through a sea of unknown realms
For centuries you have stood
Ever so graceful, ever so elegant
Throughout generations your spells were cast
On earthly mortals, and on still, silent nights

Beauty envied your clear glowing disk
Poets were inspired by your rare being
Lovers cherished every wee moment
Spent under the charms of your sliver beams
Loners found solace in your comforting presence
Stars refuse to glitter without your blue warmth
And clouded midnight skies weep
When you cease to illuminate their passages

But man had a dream
As old as the time he looked upon your radiant glow
His dream was to reach you, to get to you
Was it curiosity that was driving him?
Or his everlasting love for you?
Or was it greed? I do not know

But in the end, his dream came true
And I wish it hadn’t
For with it, it bought disappointment

Oh Dear Moon!
Is it true?
That you are nothing but a big cluster of celestial rock?
Darkened by the emptiness around you?
Feeding on light you steal from the sun?
Is it true you are infested with swollen craters?
Eating away your pale surface?
Leaving holes on your perfect face?
Is it true?
That you suffer loneliness? That you’re isolated?
In a dark chilling corner of the universe?
With the idea of bringing serenity to earthlings
As your only console?

Oh! Please tell me it is not true!

Are you not made of pure heavenly lights?
Does magic not dwell in your atmosphere?
Alluring fragrances fill your air, does it not?
Diamond mountains surround your vast blue plains?
Your silver trees bare fruits of rare jewels?
Do crystal flowers not grow on your pearly soil?
Your never ending seas of mercury?
Your gleaming gemstone riverbeds?
Your lunar skies, always radiant
As rich as a dark blue velvet dress
Like that of an enchanting fairy princess?
Your sublime beauty?
Untouched, unseen by any mortal?

You are all that, are you not?

Man claims he had fulfilled his dream
He claims he reached the moon
He claims he had landed on the lunar surface
An achievement he is ever so proud of

Tell him! Prove to him it was not you he reached!
But a distant waste land
Abandoned, and left to decay with time!

-A Poem By Mariam A.

Emotions

Emotions are the language of the heart

When you feel sad
Your heart utters tears

When you feel happy
Your heart whispers smiles

And when you feel lonely
Your heart screams silence...

-Mariam A.

Daffodils

Its amazing how words can have a deep effect on a soul. Therefore,words in a poem don't just deliver meaning, they have their own identity, making the reader feel the poem instead of just reading it.
Here is one of my favorite poems, when I first read it, I flew beneath the trees, felt the breeze blow in my face, and danced with the daffodils :)

Daffodils
by William Wordsworth

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

My Version of Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!"

I had been a fan of Dr. Seuss' books since I was a kid, (explains why I love poetry!) and my favorites were The Cat in The Hat, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Horton Hatches The Egg, Green Eggs and Ham, and the list goes on...
But I never actually liked "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!" so I decided I could write a better version :)

Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!

You can think of bees
You can think of trees
Or you can think of pink bees on candy cane trees!

You can think of anything
Or you can think of nothing

Or you can think of wearing hats on your knees!

Oh the thinks you can think
If only you can try!

You can think of blue ducks
Wearing yellow rubber boots

Did you ever think of purple kitties
Wearing dresses of purple lilies?

Think! Think and wonder...
What would you say to a talking cucumber?

Or what would you do
If you met a giant cuckoo?

Think of candy ships
Sailing in red Dr. Pepper seas

Think of funny people
Racing with sea horses under the sea

You can think of green spiders
You can think of pink cows
And the little ant that lives in a shoe!

Think! Oh the thinks you can think!

You can think of the sky...
You can think of the moon...
And the furry creatures having fun on the sun!

You can wonder...
How would it be like
To ride on thunder!

You can think of jellybean birds
Living in silver nests about the rainbow

You can try and think of flying elephants!

THINK! You can think of anything that you wish!

You can wish to think of traveling
Through the skies in a ship of clouds

Or you can wish to think...
Of spinning around the world in a bubble

Try to think of dancing gorillas
Or try to wonder...
What would a fly dream of in her sleep

You can think of living under the ocean
Or sleeping on a butterfly's wing

You can think of polka-dot frogs
Dinning in their fancy restaurant
By their pond

Oh... the thinks you can think!
THINK! Never stop thinking!
And you will think of all the thinks you can think!