poetry

khatim sulayman

The eight-pointed star is an important part of Muslim iconography. It is also know as khatim sulayman – “the seal of the prophets.” When tessellated, the negative space can create a four-pointed star. The pattern of intersecting 4- and 8-pointed stars is also known as “the breath of the compassionate”, signifying the rhythm of expansion and contraction. Lots of other things come in 8s, and this star may also evoke the compass rose. I used the first letter of each traditional wind’s name to start each of the 8 lines in this poem. We’re also reading Bill Bryson’s A Brief History of Nearly Everything at bedtime these days, and we’re learning about inflation theory and singularity.

khatim sulayman

The universe expands while the
Globe contracts.
Listening to Uptown Funk and the call to prayer
Simultaneously is a singular experience,
One step in our family’s eastward pilgrimage to
Learn other ways of being, to be
Purposeful in our conduct,
Mindful of the many forms compassion takes.

poetry

little bang

little bang

13 billion years ago
there was almost less than nothing
no time
no space
emptiness so empty
we can’t fathom it

then
the singularity

three minutes later
most of everything that will be was
in a universe flying apart
later lit
by flaming nuclear stars
tiny phosphorescent dots
in a great black sea of vacuum

46.75 years ago
I was in the same empty void

then
two little cells fused
and we’ve all been reacting ever since

today on the deck
in a brief bit of sun
between snow showers
I face Sol
close my eyes
soak in the energy
until my lids are fired
and all my internal screens
have gone burnt-orange-quiet

feeling that heat for a moment
I believe
I’m as undeniably here
as that rascal sun