Quarantine,
you must.

In sha Allah,
Coronever you may.

Fast by day.

By night,
Taraweeh pray.

This is the way.

Then is Now.
Now was Then.
Now is Here

and will never be There,
for There will be another Now
and This Now will no longer be Here,

for it will have become Was
and what Was
can never again Be.

So, Be Then in the Now,
for it is the only Now you have
and the only Now you know,

the only Now that matters
before it too becomes a Now that Was
and will never again Be.

You are not who you think you are.
Nor are you who you say you are.

Rather, you are
who you prove yourself to be

by the actions you take
and the choices you make.

Bing Bada Boom,
Legion of Doom.
Hear the World Engine
go 'Vroom Vroom.'

Adam and Eve,
Bride and Groom.
Heavenly Couple
sent down to Earth.

Their wicked *** children
and their twisted *** greed,
wrecked the Earthly Garden
and paid their warnings no heed.

When the day is done
and the fun is over,
the playground is empty and
the children must go home.

Moms and Pops,
They ain't gonna hold back.
We finna get an *** whoopin'.
Its been a long time coming.

All of humanity, get yo *** in line;
CEOs first, emplyees last.
You do the crime,
you do the time.

Dem are de rules
and you brokened them all.
You've run out of time
and there's no way to stall.

Did you forget?
We gotta go back.
The same One who sent us here
will call us all back.

Get your affairs in order
before the conductor comes a-collecting.
Your ticket was punched
the moment you drew your first breath.

Check your itinerary -
duration and detours,
none of them matter.

This trip is one way,
there is no going back.

The destination is final
so be not in denial.

Prepare your defense
and argue your case,

for the Judgement is final
and there shall be no retrial.

You were now in the past
and will now be in the future
and it too, as all things must,
shall come to pass.

Consequently,
life was now,
shaping the immediate and distant future,
viewed through the lens that is
the cumulative past.

Change now will have written a past,
one which will neither need nor want rewriting,
facilitating a fantastic future,
free from the need to be reshaped.

And in my sleep, I am wide awake.
My dreams are vivid, my dreams are many.
I live and die a thousand lives, each as real as any.

"So if I do that, nothing can hurt me?
"No, Abdullah, it won't stop the bullets.
If someone is trying to hurt you,
you have to call the police or get help, okay?"
"Even if it's Mommy?"
"Where's daddy?"
"He's never home."
"..."

I raise the pick-axe high up above my head.
I bring it back down with all my might.
I hear an audible thud at it pierces into the ground.

I change my grip.

The soil turns over as I pry it out of the ground.
I smile to myself in satisfaction at the sight of the churning soil.
It is a calm, soothing sight, worth the magnitude of the effort required to produce it.

I change grips as I ready myself and raise the pick-axe high up above my head once more.

I am the artist,
the Earth my canvas.
The pick-axe is my brush,
the chaos my muse.

Seeds will be sown
and vegetation will be grown.
Spoils will be shared
and cheer will be spread.

But for all the good that is done,
I am the one having all the fun,
for this sight is for me,
this art is my own.

I am the audience.
I am the act.

I am the set
atop the stage.

I am the curtain -
of that I am certain.

I am the lead,
I am the follow.

Follow me fellow,
come say hello.

I am the scene
on the stage.

I am the scene
on the screen.

I am the scene
that is not seen.

For I am the scene
behind the scenes.

I am the light.
I shine so bright.

I blind their sight.
Lights out; night, night.

They fear my might -
of that they're right.

It's me they hear,
loud and clear.

It's me they fear
as I draw near.

They thought they could.
They thought they would.

They knew they should.
But now they're shook.

For I am the truth.
And I am come.

I am set free.
Now lies must flee.

Out, out the doubt.
Their lies, stamped out.

They scream, they shout.
They cry, they pout.

They beg, they plead.
Their hearts, they bleed.

I pay no heed.
Truth is my creed.

True is the need.
Wage war on greed.

I am the thief.
From me, I stole.

Mind, body,
spirit, soul.

I am the tyrant;
I am oppressed.

The time is now,
I must revolt.

I must Jihad,
I must Crusade.

No time to wast.
I must make haste!

Have you no eyes?
Do you not see?

It's me I fight!
Day and night!

I am the pen,
I am the sword.

I am the speech,
I am the word.

I am the battle,
I am the axe.

The time is now,
need you ask?

I am the struggle,
I am the strife.

This is my way,
this is my life.

I am the many,
I am the one.

I am all
         and I am none.

Are we not all of us mere visitors upon this Earth,
here but only for a few brief moments,

awaiting an end to our exile,
anticipating the return to our ancestral home,

the Celestial Domicile,
the Heavenly Abode from whence we came,

the birthplace of our spirits,
the sanctuary of our souls?

My wants are many,
my desires - endless;
yet my needs are few.

Of that which I have,
I take what I need;

of that which remains,
are portions for you.

I chase after balloons without a second thought. I break into a full sprint down the street, across a parking lot, onto a busy road, just about anywhere, don't care who sees, don't care who stares. I once caught two balloons on the same day within about 5 minutes of each other. It was a great day.