Hold me, hold me in your heart
for in your eyes you will behold me no longer
I will be long gone beyond touch, greeting, or grief
like the peonies of spring post a shower or two
past summers, tides and waves
past birthdays and anniversaries

like cranes that fly in during spring
to be long gone as the bleak sky beacons
even tears become flaky lines of salt once wiped away
what trace of pain remains but just the memory
whimpers are sobs gone flat, choking subsides
arms grow limp, clenched fists relax
the pillows dry, the handkerchiefs fly away in the wind

the roses bleed not with their rosiness
but as each petal drops listlessly
until there is just a bunch of stumps
the Sun sets, the Moon waxes and wanes
laughter dies, honeymoons end

so, it is nothing strange that I should leave
I would have loved to tarry a little longer
but I have been hurried along
probably will miss the next Ramadaan
as well as the next Eid

O’ how I wish to have made the Hajj
but it will have to wait
you go along without me
remember me when you don pilgrim’s white garb
while moving in circles around the Black Cube
remember me at the Station of Ibrahim
as you reach for Zamzam’s deliciously cool water
or hurrying between the hillocks of Safa and Marwa
just like the distraught Hagar
remember me when the Udhya is done
as you clip or shave your hair
and, for sure, at the gravesite of God’s Friend
beseech his Lord to look out for me
I am Palestine
I died so that Jerusalem should live!