Poetry

I cannot recall when I had fallen in love with biblical poetry, but I know that the stories I had heard from the elders in my family drew me close to study ancient scriptures. My mother’s unchangeable love and unshakable loyalty to G-d had also led me to try to understand the times in the history of the Bible. As long as I can remember, I was fascinated by the Bible stories and the way they were laid out for everyone to read.

As I learned multiple languages, I wrote about my life in poetry form. One particular moment I wrote about was when I reflected on a summer that followed my high school graduation. I was seventeen and completely vulnerable in the world of all possibilities. Barely five years since I had moved to United States with my family, my spirit had completely shuttered in the hopes of finding a better life in America. I had lost my faith in humanity and my hope in myself. Though somehow, I had still believed that if we all would only choose peace and prosperity then perhaps the paradise would appear before us. Ironically, I still believe it.

Over the years, I discovered that paradise and hell live inside of me, and it is up to me to choose one over the other. With these thoughts, I now know that there is at least one possibility of paradise coming to be.

Let me know what you think of the poem below.

Summer of 2007

Summer of terror
And summer of error
Why were you born
When my heart was torn?
Each of your days
Crippled my ways
Blew me down
And stole my crown

I walked in the dark
And saw in the crack
Skulls of dead
That burned and fled. 
Hundreds of worries
Millions of tears
Our minds are full
And our hearts are cool

People are lying
And the innocent flying
Another step
And lie is kept
Stored in memory
Lost in memory
Comes up so often
And nothing softens

Even in dreams
My mind screams
“Summer of terror,
Oh, Summer of error.”
The lives are taken
Those hearts are broken
Tears are Living River
And those people are clever

They stood there watching
While I was matching
I raised my head
And he who led
Walked with fear
And I closed my ear
G-d wiped my tears
And answered my prayers