Tag: muslim

Tourist

tourist
tour
our
error
terror
terrorist

This artful spire
This minaret
With bold white lines
And floral whimsy

Reaching up
Where black kites soar
In deep blue skies
With wispy cloud

And from the top
The calls to prayer
Are sung five times
To rally faithful

Rising above
The Old Delhi rooftops
Bathed in sunrise
The imposing Jama Masjid

Not intended
To diminish
The faithful
But to invite

This darkened space
Inside a world unknown to me
Unfamiliar, as religion
Unfamiliar, as culture
Mystery, riddle, enigma

Intricate details
Inlaid in stone walls
Indicate a beauty
And subtlety
Beckoning exploration

Staggered by the
Scale as much as the
Stunning Beauty

All the lines
Are precise
And pristine
As to seem
An architect’s model
Atop his desk

Then I notice
The tiny figures
Taking photos and selfies

I seek other
To discover
Self

Aren’t we all
Afterall
The same
All around the world

Until
Somehow
We learn to forget
We’re children

Into this landscape of death
They deliver their dead
So the living can remember
Keeping the dead alive

There is nothing quite like
The open-hearted joy of a child
Such a presence is a gift
Reminding me that everything
Is going to be just fine

In a culture of simplicity
Reserved and spare in style
The simplest line
Or gesture slight
To the eye must seem ornate