If you’re attending this year’s ISNA convention in Chicago this weekend, drop by room 25 on Saturday at 1:30 pm. I’ll be speaking about the role of fiction in changing the public’s perception of Islam and Muslims. I’ll also be signing copies of my book, Pieces of a Dream.
Poem: Welcome to California
Looking for gold in the Golden State
nuggets are piled on other men’s plates
and they’ll burn you out at half past eight
welcome to California. Continue reading → Poem: Love You Right
I’ll love you right next time.
I won’t be a mime,
split down the line.
tongue snagged like a carp. Continue reading → I guess I’m not enchantingly handsome after all
I noticed that a few of the women at the table facing mine were watching me intently. Every time I looked up, they were gazing right at me… Continue reading → I Still Believe
I’ve seen the highs and lows of human nature, but I still believe in love and the goodness of the human heart. Continue reading → Poem: You Are a Forest
You are a forest
and I’m lost in your depths,
surviving on faith. Continue reading → Sleepy Salma: “I can’t accept this.”
Finally Salma sat up in bed, her eyes half-lidded, and accepted the small cup of mac and cheese I offered her. She sat there with it in her lap, and her eyes closed again. Continue reading → Poem: To Hold You
To hold you in my arms
once in a hundred years,
to feel your warmth and breath,
your frailty and strength, your breast
rising and falling against mine… Continue reading → Poem: Water and Dust
Ya Rab (O Lord),
I am just
water and dust
moved by a breath. Continue reading → Poem: I Say Yes
Stuck in place
still I push ahead
World says no
I say yes Continue reading →