Grief is a giant that hangs over me,
A white plume of ghosts that won't leave me.
I was a child when grief first showed himself to me;
Stepped out from the shadows of my ceiling at night,
That white plume of ghosts bursting brilliant tears from my eyes.

the lure
of the full moon’s light
in a frosty December night
is almost irresistible

it beckons to you
its pale radiance
   casts deep shadows
   full of unknown possibilities
that grow by the moment
and struggle to turn into words
   trying to grasp the cosmos
   the mystery of life

   amazing how the mere reflection
   of the sun’s brilliance
   can affect one so

it seems to ask you
to set a cool-hearted deed
make definite decisions
explore the blueprint of the universe
turn into a werewolf
dance with the dead

you look at the glimmering stars
   dotting the darkness
   left by the moon

delayed messengers
always too late

even with the speed of light
they only make us
   see the past
   mistake it for the present
   and build our future on it

the thoughts of a man staring at the sky
   in a frosty December night

deciding
to love on

* *

Lovers that apart might
Reclaim their mastery over

Their wry hearts again,
And with pretentious smile

Might mask their wounds.
But you,  love! who departed

To sleep under the quiet grass,
That you may in solitude find

The peace with earth divorced,
Left me alone, a broken  heart:

Our promise of yore is now no more!
Nor can my weakened spirit peace attain,

Nor remembered love bring me relief;
Nor doom nor gloom offer me release,

Nor to any distraction myself give;
By divine chance we happily met,

And by divine plan we now apart,
As this year's grief teaches me in truth:

Consider the death of one so loved,
Merely such love's polite recusal!

                                          -by
                               Hakim H. Kassim.


  NOTE: This poem, "Requiem," was made in honor of my father, Dr. Hussein S. A. S. Kassim, written soon after his death in March of 1994.

I long - for the stars in my sight...
These days are dull  - not like the night.
The night sky glistens with twinkles high above.
I yearn..
to fall with the sunset
and think of things I will never forget.....