By: Cedric McClester

Going to the Mosque to pray
Five times a day
Doesn’t make her devout
If she’s going astray
Wearing her hijab in public
Each and every day
Does not mean that she was devout
No matter what you say

How could she have been devout
But clearly disobey
One of the most important things
That the Qu’ran has to say
The unjust killing of the innocent
Can never be okay
It’s as if she killed everyone
In the world today

How could she be saleheen
And do the things she did
With no precedence in sunnuh
That’s doing what Shaytan bid
Islam encourages mercy
And she did not show none
Which adds to the controversy
When she opened fire with her gun

Her devoutness shouldn’t be measured
By how she outwardly appeared
If her Islam had been treasured
All she had to do was adhere
To its principles and tenets
Which clearly she did not share
Nor did she offer penance
That anyone could hear























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

just your love is smiling to life
(to...my beloved divine souls..)

when I say goodbye to love
as if world turns into desert
my consciousness numbs, then
gets into my arms like poison

whereas... I mix up my voice with the wind
your numb smile
from my memory

whispers melodies
youngish and fresh
comes back to me

what I wish to tell you
blue at the sea
red in the dawn
freedom in the sun
rainbow at the sky
flowers in the mountains
warmth in the solidarity

so... devoutness of partisan
hate of guns
fire of the eyes
ballad in the lips
dances in the arenas
stars on the foreheads

so, knowledge in consciousnesses
honour in the souls
revolution in the dreams
rhapsody in the beliefs
love in the hearts
spirits in the bodies
that is, yearn
that is, love

so, my melody
every morning
luminosity
flows to my room
from the aurora
of your eyes
every morning
luminary of your words
when I step out
a hopeful cry to the world
HELLO!

Turgay Usanmaz

Bolts and screws protect
This empty chamber in my chest.
A compartment once warm
Now cold and barren.
She came swiftly with a drill
Hidden behind the smooth curves
I once worshiped with devoutness.
Deftly she unbolted the metal
Sliding the door open she reached inside
Tentatively stroked the warm steel
And grabbed my heart in her tiny hands
I felt comforted and at peace
With her grip holding my love
Until she turned on her heels
And didn’t come back.
Leaving my chest open to the elements
Empty and longing for her touch.
Forcing me to fortify the area.
Never to let someone in again.
Who’d want an empty chest?