your absence
is the ghost that haunts
my every moment
it is the pain
in every hurt
every loss,
in every breath
sucked hard
like a blow
to the chest

who are you
to make me feel such pain?
the space in my heart,
the soul of my soul?
the spiral of longing that lives
in my core?

all pain
reminds me of you
as does all beauty
all joy
not
that a reminder is required
often
i long just to forget!

your absence
is the shadow cast over light
so everything is blurred,
colourless, distant
and my heart
the bleached summer sky
waiting for rain
hazy with dust,
thirsty with despair
as parched
but not as patient

when you are here
my heart turns into a garden
the morning after
a day of abundant rain

bathed and cooled
thirst quenched
radiant with the soft glow
of cloud filtered sun

and all the world
is sharp and clean
freshly washed and scrubbed
looking its best
presenting itself
to you

trees in the garden
suddenly seem closer
as if they have moved
just to be near you
the lines of their leaves and limbs
clearly etched
holding their breath,
preparing their words perfectly
waiting to speak

when i am with you
i see that:
the fragrant waiting
of trees about to speak

without you
words spoken are as if unheard
so i choose silence instead

***

9th june 2010. For more contemporary sufi poetry in english, please visit Sufi Poetry English.