Long Distance Love

Have you ever felt close to somebody far away?

Well, you know what they say…
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
Leaving lets love linger longer
The hardened heart starts to heal and get softer
When it imagines someone’s there,
even if they’re farther

We love that which is beyond our eyes
Because the human being always tries
To transcend up to the Divine
To see beyond the immediate sign

They say…
Long distance relationships can’t work
And I’ve been known to agree
Until long distance relationships MUST work
Otherwise you and me could never be

You and me, my dear brother,
My sisters, my Umee and Abee
My every friend-ship suspend-ed in the air,
the ones so close who I still might never meet

Those to whose souls I’ve connected
through WordPress comments and forum messages,
these vestiges of connection,
New forms of friendship selection, beyond the seas

And you know what they say…
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
Leaving lets love linger longer
The hardened heart starts to heal and get softer
When it imagines someone’s there,
even if they’re farther

So please…

Stay with me.

Even if you have to leave.

Stay with me.

Even if we never physically meet.

Stay with me.

Let our hearts and minds sync.

Stay with me.

And don’t leave, even for a blink.

Allah…
How long distance are we?
You’re the Highest Above everything and I’m just little old me.
Yet You open a portal through my palms when I raise them and say, “Rabbee”
¹وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ

How have I ever let Distance be my excuse for retreat?
Because it’s true…
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
And yes,
My leaving may let love linger longer
But my hardened heart starts to heal and get softer
When I imagine you there,
Even though you’re farther

So I say…
If there’s one thing that travels every which way between,
a message from my lips that would eclipse the size of the galaxy,
to infinity and beyond…
If there’s anything at all, that can travel with a whisper or text or du’a

It is Love.

Full stop.

¹Surah Baqarah, Verse 186: “Wa idha sa-a-laka ‘ibadee ‘annee fa innee qareeb”: “And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near…” (2:186)