By Ahmed Muhammad
Performance Poetry, 2020 MSA LSC Unplugged
Editor’s Note: Muslim Youth Musings had the honor and opportunity to collaborate with the MSA Lone Star Council for their 2020 Unplugged Competition and publish selected entries in the categories of Performance Poetry and Visual Art following the theme of “Flashlight in the Dark – Faith as a Guiding Light in Times of Stress and Anxiety.” We congratulate all of the competitors and winners on producing high-quality work that is now being shared with Muslims across the world.
Pomegranates dry in the evening sun.
Rivers wrap around your throat behind tree stumps so shy to the sight of something as pure as water bestowed from the heavens above—you found this so annoying. you’ve always found this to be the worst thing, silent negligence. Against all faith, you’ve always found the smirking eyes of snakes nauseating, the consistency of hunger tantalizing, greed inevitable, ruth truthful.
pomegranate stains your shirt as you take slow bites careful not to stare at the sun.
why would you anger it?
it’s just bad luck.
so when the moon ignites the air with dissidence and the gusts howl for acceptance, fixate—how heavy your lungs weigh in your heart—until you are stuck struggling in moonlight, and all you may do is breathe.
About the Artist
Ahmed Muhammad is a senior at Southern Methodist University studying English literature, economics, mathematics, and statistics. He is originally from Pakistan but now lives in Irving, Texas. He’s been writing since he was in high school, and he is particularly passionate in experimenting with modern forms of free verse. He is working on publishing his first book of poems titled Marginal Negligence. He writes primarily to invite everyone to explore the world with him, and he joined MYM to reach out to more Muslims. He loves how MYM allows other Muslims to offer their thoughts in response. In his spare time, he of course like long walks on the beach.
