I’m left clinging to your cradle… praying you return here safely
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
O’ my child, the sun sat there… it’s rays piercing the desert sky
The air heated to a degree… that even tears our eyes can’t cry
And in this I witnessed your thirst… and here your father holds you high
“Will any quench my child’s thirst?”… cries out the last son of Ali
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
So hot that when your cradle sways… it is swayed by the hands of heat
The blood that flowed upon these sands… has dried up, quiet and discreet
My tears are dry, O’ my child… all I have left is my heartbeat
I would turn it into water… and quench your thirsty O’ my baby
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
Your father came, asking for you… yoiiur sweet cries didn’t fill the air
Has the thirst strangled your vocals… s your pain muffled by despair?
Does your thirst hide your innocence… just like my veil hides my hair?
I picked you up in my two hands… your tiny hands clenched into me
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
How soft your neck, O’ my child… your skin shines from here to the stars
How can a mother bear to see… on his child’s skin, any scars?
I hand my soul to his father… and my soft heart, your absence chars
I feel it stained with blackened ash… as your father takes you away
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
He took you to the enemy… I watched your empty cradle sway
My eyes could not bear your absence… from the depths of my soul I’d pray
“O’ Lord take away everything… but please don’t take my child away”
He replied, “Ismail was spared… for a sacrifice on this day…”
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
I watched the sky shatter and break… I watched implode the stars and sun
I could hear the angels screaming… “O’ Harmala, what have you done?”
And with their voices, Hussain cries… “for what sin was murdered my son?”
His arms flapped like a bird in pain… and his cradle shook whilst empty
To me no longer thirsty… I’m left clinging to your cradle
* * *
(Washington, D.C. – 10/08/16)