Some things are just not meant to be,
No matter how hard we try.
We cannot alter "The Decree",
No matter how much we cry.

What will fall will fall,
No matter how high the rise.
What will crawl will crawl,
Even if it has mastered the sky.

Sometimes, for some things to live,
Others have to leave.
For some things to come,
Others have to go.
And sometimes to free and be free,
We have to let go and let be.

Everything happens for a reason.
For which more important questions are, than "why?".
If we fight and fight,
And we try and try.
Yet, what we want passes us by,
Then we should come to realize,

Not all we want will be
But all that be is all we need.

I said it wasn't my country,
so I watched her milks turn acids
her blood diluting her rivers of honey
and her tears washing off her own fertility.

I had no fear—
     for it wasn't near.

I said it wasn't my tribe,
so I saw,
but pretended not to have even looked
I listened,
but pretended not to have even heard
Yet it was written on my every line;
they aren't of my kind.

I didn't care—
     for it wasn't my tears.

I said it wasn't my religion,
so I turned my back
reciting from my scriptures
I have eyes, but had no vision.

I had no fear—
     for of God, who dares?

It came for my country, but I wasn't near
It went for my tribe, but I wasn't there
It came for my religion, but I wasn't aware.
Now it has come for me,
but there's no one here.

By Abdulmalik Jibril
©2019

Today, I am again closer
to everything mine —destined.
Better than I was,
Good for how I want,
And best for what is to come.
That, I know, without doubt.

As much as I have gone farther,
I know I am yet to be
where I want to be.
Just as I know, without doubt,
What will be will be.
I am at peace and ease
Knowing Who holds the wheel.

Whatever comes after
Was never meant to come before.
And whatever comes before
Was never meant to come after.
However, whenever.

Today, I am wiser and stronger
than I was yesterday.
But I am not getting any younger
Just so you know,
Today, I am a year older.

©By Abdulmalik Jibril

O friend! A friend, truly, are you
To have noticed my iron legs,
And not the rotten part; the host of flies.
How pleasant was the fragrance
Which you thought to be that of buoyance?

O friend! A friend, truly, are you
To have noticed my tears in the rain.
Ah! You did not see at all,
For my tears was the rain.

O friend! A friend, truly, are you
To neglect my presence before came the sun:
When I was trying to kindle my candle,
But comprehend my presence when the sun rose.

O friend! Was it the scars on my shadow you saw
Or the shadows of my scar?
Whichever, both were mine.
Or did you not see at all?
A friend, truly, are you then.

By Abdulmalik Jibril

They said every sun that set will surely raise,
And in-between is but time.
What if I rest and never raise,
But you awoke to the sunshine,
Will you bring me the sun where I lie?
Will you hug yourself to comfort me with your smile?

If tomorrow comes, o friend
And you awoke before I do,
Will you wake me up
And give me from your meal?
Will you be my friend still
Or you will unveil what I feel to be real?
If it rains on your farm before mine,
Dear friend, do not forget
That we first watered the soil with our sweat
And through the thick and thin of life,
We dared nature with a smile.

Tell me, o friend. Tell me.
If things never get right and fine,
Will you still be by my side?

By Abdulmalik Jibril

Mayhap, if we endure,
And choose to go
A little further
With peace and pure,
By just a step or even more,
Beyond the darkness
Of the darkest of nights
Maybe,
Or maybe not,
After the darkness,
We would find light,
Trapped,
Scared of darkness.

Maybe or maybe not,
Behind the light
The one behind the light,
Or maybe beyond that,
Rests darkness,
Awaiting the night.

Behind everything or everyone you see, is something or someone you do not see.
"It is not what you look at that matters, but what you see."

©ABDULMALIK JIBRIL