Postcards from Home: Muslim Voices Poetry Contest 2005

A new initiative to promote Muslim Poetry in North America. Hope more and more people participate every year inshah allah.

Though all the poems online were nice, the following one ( rated 3rd in the contest) really caught my eye:

Postcards From Home
by Juli Herman

Lush carpet of gold, speckled with crimson
Splashes of chrome and slivers of saffron
Spread out beneath my weary feet
Crunching and crackling with every step I take

Flanking the path, tall towering trees
Crowned in gold, adorned with burgundy
The warmth they spread in all their glory
The last of which before the frost arrives

A bed of soft white petals sprinkled on green
Soft pink blossoms fill the view
Golden crowns turn festive for the spring
Trees radiate fragrance, a pleasant whiff of life

Bright green leaflings peek out in curiosity
Relieved to finally breathe in the fresh spring air
Dew drops, fat and sparkling, plop upon the grass
Generously scattered over a new cycle of life

Year after year the wondrous cycle continues
Flashing before us glimpses of paradise
Our eternal home, the ever lasting abode
Beckons us every day in silent whispers

Yet do we hear it calling,
Do we sense its presence
In snippets and slivers
All around us?

Do we see its beauty
Do we taste its sweetness
When we sink our teeth
in the white-greenish flesh of a succulent Red Delicious?

Postcards after postcards are presented before us
The promise of paradise is true and clear
Like junk mail we treat them, tossing them carelessly
Heedless we are of the silent calls and soft whispers of home.