by Siddiq Islam

They all would like to make me fit
Into the standards they assert,
But I cut my myself off from it,
Even the labels on my shirt.

I hike off to a far-field place,
The sunshine rides upon my hair.
They do not know. I left no trace.
I killed my phone and left it there.

Then music, gossip, porn and text
Simmer away in the low heat
And soon my empty head rejects
All but that beneath my feet.

So long I paid so little heed,
The susurrations of God’s Earth.
So blatant was my nature’s need,
And what a rubbish life I lead.

A spider whiskers up my arm
The girl can stay for all I care.
I shouldn’t dare to cause her harm,
And so I let her wander there.

The blazing zenith does not wait
To shortly close its burning eye.
What giant beauties God creates!
Yet even things like that must die.

I settle with the fading day.
The whole trip starts to feels so worth it.
Stop a while, and, though I pray,
Appreciating life is worship.

And when I’m back, I see my wife.
She understands where I have been.
I tell her all about my life,
Of what I’ve learnt, and what I’ve seen.

And when it comes, the covering night,
My preparations are all ready.
I close my eyes but not too tight,
Content to say goodbye already.