Semi-solid Light
We are both prayerful.
She, with the commanding worship of her evensong,
and I, with Isha’s joyful submission,
“Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim.”
Both beckoning, sightless, in Owl
and Arabic, to mysteries
beyond understanding.
Like this belligerent mist, toiling to drown
even the glow of the street lamp.
Embroiling it within an unfolding
of semi-solid light.
A mischievous haze
dazzling, rising, lightly blazing,
to swirl over stoops, and under eaves.
Ponderously striving to deny
the very forms of her forest, our heavens,
and these man-made structures.
But it too, eventually,
rises from prayer,
and submits with grace, to Grace.
And with new clarity, our vision
of a darkly clouded sky, returns,
crowded, with gratitude.
Chris Wardle (Hamza) works at being happy and grateful, while writing with an eye for wonder, a taste for questions, and a sense of proximity to the Sacred. A relative newcomer to sharing his poetry, he has been published in: Blue Minaret, Pandemonium (2022); and Green Ink Poetry (2023).
Amethyst Review 