Gorgeous eyes to
   soothe,
I see in you a heart
   of  truth;
TENA, you're already
   more than a friend-
For all day today,
   you were on my
       mind!
A fresh face, touched
     with rare grace;
From deep within
   your eyes and face,
Sweet TENA, answer
    for me all possible  
     whys:
Why should I seek
     another--
Yes, I just want us
     together!
                -by
     Hakim Kassim.
     (d. Jan 12, 2019
       /Jigjjiga)

THE PROPOSAL- (1).

just lost in your eyes,
for they are THE
   answer to my whys!;
day and night, it's for
   you my soul weeps,
and  my poor heart for
   yours pleads,
for I love you so, by
   the exreme,
seeing well we belong to
    the same stream:
so between your *******
    let me thrive,
there to rejoice in all
    love and life!
i do not mean less than
   for keeps
for my heart numbs at
   the mention of your
     name,
O Love true & deep.
    -d.September 23, 2018.

the future,
an open voucher.
"son, it'll all be well:"
something wise to tell!
borrowings from the
   dark--
unexpected emotions to
   embark.
hefty hopes,
but only present
   moment copes.
foresight in eyes
means mind in sighs.
his son's point opposes,
trust in dad crosses.
in sound judgement?
not positive in
   movement!
felt brokenness,
betrayed and bitterness.
hate gave way to anger.
a loose hanger.
quite a weight to
   borrow,
so much in needless
   sorrow.
get a gun on the street--
"get to go on that beat!"
all's been the seeds
of murderous deeds.
counsel of possibility?
his was only blood in
   actuality.
a late fall evening,
and a clear sky with no
   meaning:
'tabula rasa of my own--
sailing to the unknown:
the morrow as a
   by-gone,
why, ride the bull by the
   horn!'
feverish turn.
partying with her you
   burn.
armies on the go.
none but their own to
   bow.
the goal straight-
   -crowned,
what can go wrong?
dissipated dreams.
blood in streams.
foggy night grab the
   gun.
shot dad in the head and
   ran.
'unreal city!'
thought he's good and
   witty.
familiarity is a creed.
murdering your dad is
   not a treat.
in the mind lingers the
   stain.
hate'll deface your
   brain.
denial would be lonely
   grief.
regret will tarnish you
   like a falling leaf.
treasury to inherit now
   becomes but a waif:
how does a sweet past
   vouchsafe?
-NOTE: the words quoted in line 43 (" 'unreal city' ") are from T. S. Eliot's Wasteland.

MEMORIES.

where there's no one,
i rejoice a whole
      world!

with nothing on
      the ground,
i hear but love in
      sound;

with nothing to
     see in eyes,
i alone enjoy
     green fields;

when there's for
     me no beat
gabriel lends his
     hand to complete;

smiling faces by
     me stand,
eager to hold me
     in hand;

all i've is not
    today's world:
for i find new joy
    in the old.

for all my joy there's
    but one place
      where i run, time
         and again.
where i play in
    its blessed rain.

there i never feel
    alone--
but feel, know i
    am the one.

alot of me ftom today
    is left kept and hid,
so much of me
    there is lit!

not a thing for
    me is vain,
what a world of
    joy to gain:

for there i no
   more grieve.
there is but joy to
   weave--

not anymore for
    me to miss,
all joy is mine at
   will, this!

             -by
   Hakim Kassim.
  d. June 08, 2017.

I see it glowing in
   your eye, so new,
  And on those hips
     of yours, tender
         and lean,
Hosting Beauty in all
   its breadth and
     depth, I see the
        dew
  Of a new dawn in
     my heart and
       soul, to win
A new horizon
   abrim with joy and
      with you lived in
         peace;
  Like Aurora in
     early-dawn  mist
       carrying those
          'milky thighs'
             that forever
               men's
                hearts deem
  To beat too fast,
    speechless in the
     quiet utter loss
In truelove's holy
    light, unable to
     awake, or dream
  And so is my heart
     in your  palms,
       whatever you
          say, wherever
             you go,
No words can
   express what in my
       heart wanes,
  What feelings, what
      thoughts, what
       hopes in want--
Nor how to your
   ignorance I cannot
     explain my pains,
  What with your
      love I see and
        know,
          you just can't
Imagine in your best
   mind, all things
     being equal:
  Of Joy, and Love,
     and all in holy
         light
Of truelove; but alas!
     as theirs is a
       cry without
          content,
  The moth and the
      star, so truelove
         for you will
           only be dream
             of night,
Never to breathe
   daylight,  never to
      live what was
        meant
  With Joy,
    unconditioned
      love with no
       second-thoughts;
Your "Hi," said with
    a tremble of soul,
     with a defensive
        smile,
  Still self-conscious--
     treading with
       needless pain,
Worries about
   tomorrows over
      which you hardly
        control for even
          a while,
  And second-
     thoughts that in
        our love you
         cannot explain,
Though in your
   mind you sport it--
     where's the joy of
       love you're
         supposed to
           live, anyway?
                     -by
      Hakim H. Kassim.
      (d. July 31, 2023/
       Jigjiga)

(for Muhubo Ali-Nur)

LOVE.

morning breeze.
the world at ease.

cordial days--
onward, in blessed ways.

your future in another.
wanting to be together.

. . .wishing on a star?
oh, in love we are!

trusting the unknown future--
for with desire we act mature.

will there be a broken heart?
we'll never be apart!

for keeps, forever:
to fall out? never.

my idea of the pure?
well, she's my only lure.

eclipses in soul,
for time's no one's fool.

so much goedwith the  good--
so much good above mind and mood!

            
                                   -by  Hakim Kassim.
                                     (June 08, 2017).

LOVE LOST-1.

alone you had for
   me the words to
       soothe,
you alone could
   touch my heart in
       truth--

you remember first
    you  kissed
       without a sigh,
and that answered
   for me any
       possible why;

you called-out to my
    soul for home,
and I then sought
    myself no longer
       to roam,

and ever since then I find you close and
    dear,
never too far away, you were always
       near:

no more! for you're on my lap no
       more! no more!
so much alone here's sickening and
      sore!

in the bleak December eve dark
   with wintry
       breeze,
in my only thought
   are but images
      of you grasping,
         to caress --

and over the fire of
    my , O! dream that
       never was, as I in
     my mind fall into
        unquiet pose:

a willing casualty in
    anticipated dream that, with me, has
          become but a soul in stream--

of tears, of pain and
    love, of you--
stark reality, an ever-
    flowing end
        too!
                 -by
    Hakim H. Kassim.