Naima B. Robert – The Strangest Iftar a poem for Ramadhan in Quarantine

The strangest Iftar

The streets are empty, quiet, hushed families gather behind

closed doors.

Somewhere in the world do walk the city streets. The skies are

clearer than they have been for 50 years and dolphins play in the

canals.

The sun sinks low beyond the sleeping skyline.

An imam alone in the mosque

alone for the very first time,

alone of the setting of the sun, rises and clears his throat

because it is time

regardless of the unfamiliar silence of the echoing emptiness

of the unknown future,

it is time

and so he stands reaches up to cup his ears tears falling down his

cheeks and into his beard he calls out a long honk Whoa, whoa, whoa.

The sound reverberates through the empty prayer.

The sound spills out into the empty streets and echoes between

the houses Oh.

The coal busts out of the receivers in 1000 different homes

Oh, and from mobile phones and television screens and the mouths

of the families youngest more than two cups his ears holds back the

tears and utters the words

all

and the words bring with them so many things

into council houses and refugee camps and villas overlooking the

sea shed one

oh

relief

because Ramadan is here once more.

And we live to see it

all

gratitude, because his promise is true. And we have never been more

grateful than now in this moment of.

Joy because in this time, we are blessed beyond measure

because we have each other

you people

humility because we are learning to treasure our health, our

elders, our carers, our workers and the simple things that we

never appreciated before.

Blood because these are the ties that can never be broken, not by

legislation or isolation or self preservation. Not even in death.

Ah

patience. Because this too shall pass as all tests do. And we have

the chance to rise and celebrate, evolve and elevate a long long

Whoa.

Love because this is what we are learning every day.

Love that we took for granted.

Love that we forgot

who to love,

how to love

and why faith because that is what has held us together so far

through the strangeness through the loneliness, through the loss

and through the fear learn

more all

because we know that this if Tom this strangest if Todd is a sign

that He loves us still For while there is life and while there is

love and while there is faith, there is hope still

and while the sun rises in the east

and sets in the west, there is Ramadan still welcome

you

all month love

it is