Back
Murtaza Humayun Saeed
I am back
Back from the world of thoughts alone
From the world of picking from multiple perceptions
Back from the prison of mind
From the world of reducing self
And mental mechanisms
I am back
I am whole again
Afresh and aware now
Haunted by vulnerability no more
Nor scornful because of my lack of past experience
For the world awaits me
And lessons yearn to be a part of me
Where real issues will be addressed
I am back again
From the empty well and its darkness
I have found all the wisdom I need
Is found in the core of me, though not from me,
There I am healed and washed
And found again
About the Author
Murtaza Humayun Saeed is a bookseller, poet, artist and documentary producer. You can find him on Instagram on @adifferentlanguage and @selectbooks_artgallery. Murtaza loves to teach too and once a week he teaches English to 5th to 7th graders in a unique open-ended discussion format. The class is called Beautiful Patience @zaawiya.trust.school. Beautiful Patience is what makes all learning beautiful!
This poem appears in A KALEIDOSCOPE OF STORIES - Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry
A KALEIDOSCOPE OF STORIES – Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry brings together the myriad voices of eighty Muslim poets from diverse backgrounds to powerfully articulate what it means to be Muslim in the modern world. It provides a platform for Muslim voices to be heard speaking about their experiences in their own words, and offers an antidote to the stereotyped, one-dimensional portrayal of Muslims we see so often in the media.
The anthology gives the reader a glimpse of the thoughts, hopes and challenges of those who see the world through two or more cultural lenses, and provides an authentically Muslim space for the expression of our spiritual, social and personal lives. It brings together the verses of multi-generational voices exploring themes including love and loss, identity and belonging and Islamic spirituality.
