How to ease souls in troubled times? My stubborn belief is that art is the best form of diplomacy and finer than politics.
Below, is a contribution of mine featured in a forthcoming book of art-activism (artivism) that seeks to dispel Islamophobia through poetry 🙏🏼✨
11th Hour Plea
One foot here, one foot there
how much longer, weary pilgrim,
lingering at the threshold?
One step forward, two steps back
-still lusting after this world-
Have you forgotten your promises?
To die to your self, to transmute
the mud to gold, to surrender
distractions and consent to be born?
—Yahia Lababidi
in A KALEIDOSCOPE OF STORIES
Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry
(Coming soon from Lote Tree Press)