purpose fulfilled

awake to a technicolor dawn
embrace the fresh morning dew
walk bare foot in the sand
as waves break into soothing song
along shell strewn shores

all i need is a moment
that second of euphoria
enraptured with the sound
amazed with the view
alive with the feeling

a walk within the redwoods,
connected to my beloved
a stroll along the beach
breathing in the essence
touching every nerve

Allow yourself to let go
as though free floating
let your mind meditate
comforted by the lack of ego
be still and listen

let my hand be yours,
let divine breath fill your lungs
exhale with thought,
inhale with intention
be here now, this very moment

undiscovered peace lies just beyond
a finger's width away
a moment from your grasp
self seeking nothing
you find it all at once

only a moment
can open the door
to divine destiny
selfless living
purpose fulfilled

Today the wind spoke
She wispered into my ear
I've traveled across land and sea
Seen and heard the whole wide world
Until I've met you here

Past the pyramids at Giza
Over China's Great Wall too
Down the steps of Boru Buddur
Touching the world's greatest sites
But very few people cared

My tendrils touched war zones
Somalia women clutching cloaks
Mothers in refugee camps
Of Darfur, Palestine, Iraq, Burma
Yet few people really cared

New years I blew through Times Square
Tossing celebrity skirts
My Santa Ana winds flew
Burning the Hollywood hills
Suddenly everyone cared

How do they judge news these days?
I said, "public eye is strange.
Perhaps we forget togetherness
The wind touches all people
Just as our sorrows and pain"

We can't forget forever
Blind to the world today
Ignoring past and future
Someday the winds of change
Really will unite us all

Change Too Good To Be True


Strolled swiftly down the avenue
Straight through onto the train
Past the garbage on the streets
Ticket Machine reads "change only"
I need change in the worst way

Homeless teens by the station
Waiting for the shelter
Another day without change
Can't get a job, can't ride the train
They need change but pockets stay empty

Single mom came to the ER last night
She has no health insurance
Her cash goes to car, kids and rent,
Toiling all day for low pay
No benefits, she needs change yesterday

Election time again this year
Time for change they yell
In with the new; that's their view
Same thing to us, with a different name
Voters are asking for change

Bring us real useful change
Everything we have glitters
It's not new, same old thing
Different day, pseudo name
Nothing new under the sun

We need change in a major way
Change for public transportation
New Politicians, same game
Garbage in streets, landfills,
Our land is filled with cars, bars, homes

TV shows violence and celebrities
Where is the news media?
Cable channels cost money too
They want your change for nothing
Same people, same trash different name

Everything cries out for change
The garbage filled streets
Mothers who work for no insurance
Politicians with the same fake smile
Trains, cable, lights, all take change

It All looks the same to me.
Pay to go to school,
Change for the train to work
My first stop the coffee shop
Now there's change well spent.

Oh divine love!
Oh blessed truth!
The somber reality rings in my ears.
People speak only a small partof their true intentions;
Their true meaning speaks from beyond their words.

This one boasts,
His ego like a rooster struting,
Yet, he truelly feels insecure and small.
The real message a need for adoration;
Seeking approval and affection even from strangers.

That one cries;
Her tears falling with wails.
Does she even know her deepest reason?
Others react with sypathy and distraught interest.
Now she is a pampered center of attention again.

The youngest shouts;
Her voice carries and strains.
She years to be heard to make known,
'I'm here!! I matter! Just love me too!"
Sometimes it's hard being the baby.

He lies in his solice
Stewing in his sloth
None of this is his fault he whines,
For if he took responsibility for this and that
He would see the failures and feel even worse.

Sometimes truth
Is stranger than fiction.
Other times it'sjust hidden,
under a filmy layer of concious ego.
Showing only what we THINK we are saying.

Ya 7ayy
Keep my heart
Tuned in to your vibrations
That I may see,and remember
The truth beyond the veils into the Hidden.

A poem: Terms of Endearment for Shaykh Taner Ansari Al-Qadiri Al-Rifai


The most wonderful moments my heart holds dear
Were simple days, spent with you and a pizza oven
Such a blessing to be so near my beloved Shaykh
A gift beyond words, to be so at peace with you

My heart aches in lonely sadness now, so far away
I just want to sit at your feet and have my mind silent
To breathe and be concious, to learn Allah
The only true goal of heart's contentment

When the teaching of silence of the heart and mind
First were told to me- the endless chatter box--
I couldn't fathom, or even grasp such things
Only with you is my mind silent, and my tongue at rest

Recently, I hope, to keep you with me more often
AS the zhikr of my heart is- Insha'Allah- more frequent
I feel the constant chatter quieting a bit
Although, recently my sadness is tenfold

If this is expansion and contraction,
I pray I expand soon, for I feel as if I shall burst
I know Allah wants us to be happy,
Yet, these moments are so few now

Oh my Shaykh, please forgive me for my selfish ways
But I long to be close to you, to be close to Allah
This should be possible, I know, any place
For Allah is Ya Qarib, and Ya Wasi,

~~~ the final set was excluded, as I feel it is far too personal~~~

I absolutely love a good bumper sticker in traffic...

Here are a few I thought I'd share which have given me a smile or two while bumper to bumper in the Bay Area's vast concrete ant farm.


"Dear World,

We are sorry, we tried!

-half of America"


"The only Bush I trust, is my own."

"A village in Texas is missing its idiot"

"Your Mom goes to college"- ok the last one is from Napoleon Dynamite, but I find more than just political satire funny... sometimes.

Ending Truth and Beauty,

As the world turns
The sun rises each day
Over Japan, across the continents
Passing over mountains,oceans and valleys

That is truth,
Absolutely guaranteed

But now I see a leader
whose goal is destroying truth
Nothing is impossible
If he sends a wave of destruction

That is truth,
absolutely guaranteed

The sun cannot be stopped
from running its course
But millions could be removed
without a trace, from its track

The sun will indeed be blotted out
The day another nuc
Finds its way on target
As this time others will not turn a blind eye

With every action
There is an equal and opposite reaction
That is truth
Absolutely guaranteed.

Beauty is in the eye of beholder
But that is in life
And nature, and love
That is in being alive

To erase life
Is to end beauty
The ending of beauty
The end of truth

And all of this
because a mad cow boy
has a problem
If someone else has his toys

Separation:

Are we truelly so blind
As to watch another suffer
While yet not seeing
That could be me?

Are we so hardened
When no orphan's tears
Or mothers cries
Can bring us to feel empathy?

How can we draw this line
WHY, is there you and me
How is there no connection
Of two living beings?

Why do we separate
the living here from
the dying there
Aren't we all alive

HOw is it we act
As though nothing connects
Although really, the separation
Is only a fictionary line

It's drawn across history
Drawn with wars across time
TO separate and divide
To conquer and control

If idealogy says I must choose
Which part of me do I side
The oppressed or the rich
The young or the old

You see I am doing it already
Drawing lines, silly fictional lines
When really there is only unity
The truth is the only reality

But where is she?

I wrote this a few years back but it somehow seems relevant now:

Time Slow Release:


This moment is one that crawls along
Dragging it's feet, slowly transcending
The clock ticking away
Each second enunciated
Time passes as i watch

During times of bliss
Thrilling shards of euphoria
Time is like a motorcycle
Speeding across life's highway
Moving faster than prudent- flying

Yet if the past was before
And the future has not yet come
How can we do anything
But live in the present
Practice conciousness and just be