Miriam Riad is an elementary teacher by day and a writer by evenings and weekends. Her work has been published in Ruminate, Ekstasis Magazine, Cape Cod Times, and elsewhere. She is the author of 28 by 29: A Year of Writing, a collection of essays and poetry.
ARABIC
I know you—
You are the night sky.
I recognize you, every time
You come;
You are home.
You are beautiful to me,
A haunting rhythm
I can only sometimes
Partake in.
The words I understand,
Like the stars, flickering
Lighting up the darkness.
But it is still dark,
And I wish my understanding was less
Like the stars
And more like the moon.
Most familiar,
Most far away.
I recognize your patterns, like the
Few constellations I can trace
After dark.
And I will cherish the beauty
of these stars
However few I am able to make
Roll off my tender tongue
Noorik kefaya.
Your light is enough.
© Miriam Riad, 2023
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