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Poetry

by Zahra Rashid

What do I have to fear, have I ever diminished by dying?

I died as lifeless matter and became growing vegetation,

then I died as a plant and reached animality.

I died as an animal and became human

What do I have to fear, have I ever diminished by dying?

From here to there, from this footprint in the sand to the next wave

Unfolding, unravelling the paradox of being

matter; animate and inanimate – flesh, soil, and blood

twirling around this mystery, weaving stories as they spin,

At the next encounter, I will leave human-ness

So that I may bring wings and a head from the angels

Even as an angel, I should keep searching and striving:

“Everything perishes except His Face.” (28:88)

Stories begin, fade and end,

The twirling remains as a dance

Flapping…