Lovers that apart
   might
Reclaim their
   mastery over

Their wry hearts
   again,
And with
   pretentious smile

Might mask their
    wounds.
But you, lovel 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 can
   remembered love
      bring me relief;
Nor can gloom offer
    me release,

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

And by divine plan
   we're 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 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.

Holiday in the Gulf
The intimate ones
With the night shift worn face
Of Uwaisi hospital nurse Clara
The queen of spades
In the attire of
Althaf Hotel boy Kassim
The king of clubs
With the face of my dad
Waiting for the postman
At the verandah of
The half finished house
The king of hearts
With the face of Abu
Staring at my young sister
When he comes to collect
The cut throat interest
Of the never ending debt
Hiding face down
For a full hand sweep
The trump diamond jack
Cornered in the hand
The waste twos and threes

Remember
The jobless gang home
The canal side cards play
Unaware to the opponent
With a scratch mark
Or a creased edge
Hinting the card in hand
The foul-trick playpal...
Breaking the trap
Jumping a fence
When the police ambush
Making me hide
In the abandoned ghost well
The saviour friend Ravunni

Keeping in mind friend
On the next home visit
A job visa for you

Here tonight when I am
Losing games one by one
Behind the opponent stands who
Invisible to prompt his cards
To make me win round by round
By honours and by fulls

On the phone at odd hours
Who is that from away home
What's the news so urgent

In the abandoned ghost well...

It waves hard, like
  An ordeal of times
       past;
Irresistible, it wears
      down
 Wilfully mortal
    endurance;
It worries, like
     summer sky,
  Setting the soul
      breathless;
In woeful tone the
     moth
  Haplessly weeps to
       stars;
Longing, infinite and
       vain,
   Furnishes the mood
       inside;
Outside, nighingale
       still
  Sings through
     the vacant autumn
          sky.
                       -by
             Hakim Kassim.

dust.
crowds.
rain.
'asc?' voice of a young
        girl--
belated recognition.
summer at end.
smile.
love-laden look.
silence of--
promises scribbled
       inside.
hope.
heart.
thought.
walking home!
'a world without end.'

      -by Hakim Kassim.
       (Sept.04.2016)

"Je pense donc je
        suis."
         -Descartes, 1637

You'll never know,
Though forever
         wonder

Of the day of your
         feast!
It's an unknown
         moment

In the long annals
Of the Universe's
         clock;

And you blame
          things--
People, places,
         principles,

For not giving you
        enough,
Or not giving you at
        all.

In fact, you're to
       blame:
The sheep with the
    scar,

Cleaning out with
   naive acts
What might have
   been of use to you;

Your mind and body
   fight,
Fight, because that's
   all they do,

That's all they CAN
   know!
Ah, such Cartesian
   discovery:

One set against the
   other,
Without end or
   result;

For evermore, like
   ebb and flow;
Day and night, up
   and down.

Was Jesus the
   solving synthesis--
Sprite or Spirit? He
  came and left--sole
        individual!

Dualism yet persists,
   as before:
Keep reigning as
  King in your 'mind,'

Though to 'matter'
   you're
One among six
  billion hapless faces!
 
  -by Hakim Kassim.
  (d. November, 1988)

(for Sulekha Amin
     Omar)
"Omnia vincit amor."
                    -Virgil.

I see vast seas asleep
     in your eyes;
And mere smiles
    that pour joy into
       my heart,
I see in you a blessed
    beauty unknown up
      till now!    

I see you as the sun
     treads westward,
And arrows spread as
     blind sky reflects
I see you alone among
     all who under the
       sky live!

I see the delight you
      bring to a troubled
        spirit
And see the dawn of
    New Spring as you
      in my thoughts
       come ,
I see you all the time,
   Darling, lest I Love
      You forevermore!
                
       -by Hakim Kassim.
        (d. Dec.12.1989)

snow-windy.
ice in raindrops.
hefty ventures.
brookner, anita:
latecomers '89.
thomasses,
just too many.
mind-plays.
churning hopes.
wrestle.
some way out.
'i did love her then!'
mind-quake.
regroup.
by-gones.
grave-yard stuff.
'oh, now: you & i.'
     -by Hakim Kassim.

hot.
humid.
dream in the dark.
wet thoughts.
drowsy nightingales.
hemingway's tight-tongued
     heroes.
summer shower.
july miracle:
do we mistake love for lust?    
     -by Hakim H. Kassim.

(for K. Briggs, Portsmouth)

     All that ever was
        joyous, and clear
         and fresh,
     [your] music doth
        surpass "
             -Percy Shelley.

I do not know the
   reason why
The world turns with
   me when you walk
         by,

With a thousand
     words scarred
        across your face,
Breaking down my
    defense with a
      casual gaze.

Morning or evening
   when you walk by,
My heart skips a beat,
   lost in the 'you-and-
        I;'

With your light step a
  vivid link to a higher
     grace--
At a different time, at
     a different place!

Your eyes turn away
   as you pass, as if we
      were kidding one
         another,
As if no two were
   meant to be
     together!

You go your way,
   leaving me lost and
     amazed:
So much said in so
   little expressed!

      -by Hakim Kassim.
      (d.January, 2000)

(for Ifrah Osman Dahir)

The purposeful look,
    a passing smile--
My eyes fixed at a
    whole world all the
       while--

A world of joy
    through figure
       lean and smooth,
And what a world
    you're for my cares
      to soothe;

By a sudden turn you
    look at me with an
      amused frown,
Caught me off-guard,
    my eyes hurry to be
       withdrawn:

Yet deep in me
    somewhere you
      caress and touch,
Speechless, I'm lost in
   your lean figure  
     maybe to match--

For you're to me of
   that indelible Dew
      from Heaven:
No words need be
   said, you're beloved!

For I see scattered
   across your face,
For which with fiery
   desire I yearn to
       gaze;

Ss if you sought to
    clasp a stretched
          caring hand,
I need love, a heart
    willing to
       understand;

Your cheeks are rosy,
   though you seem
      not to care,
I have nothing to give
   but all my heart--all
      and bare!

You seem somewhat
    tired with this
      indifferent this
        uncaring world:
Yet I hear and see you
    up and happy, not
       as cold;

No one grows sick
    and tired of love,
And the unrest in
    your face sighs for
      a move

To come--the saving
   Knight on a
     Horseback:
Can I be the lucky guy
   no less the worse?
              
                   -by
            Hakim Kassim.
           (-d.Oct. 31, 2018)

In a world of dying
Meant to hide its meaning,

There are no highs,  no heroes,
No sweets, baby, only woes--

Sufferings  you gently leave at once.
Death comes to you only by chance,

Never till  you feel complete and ready
      to go,
The Killing Angel stands sleepless and
      on the go;

High and twice  above the clouds by
      measure
Is his knee, collecting souls at pleasure;

Throwing this to speeding cars,
And that to stupid wars,

And, whatever the reason he gives,
He nonetheless just takes.

No use! all love is but a preparation
For something there's  got to be for a
       notion,

Yet you and I must be content with the
        end
Of Love as 'streaming eyes' and with
       nothing to amend!
                   -by Hakim Kassim.
                   (d. September 10,  2016)

autumn.
dreams, into ideas.
windy eves.
the far-away look.
tree-leaves.
dark eves.
wuthering heights.
firewoods.
a world in the yellow.
release.
warmth.
quiet.
intimacy.
looking.
time off.
promises anew.
'we'll see.'
          -by
  Hakim Kassim.

(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).

i've not been  given a chance.
to speak out my  mind,
let alone pour  out my  soul at once;
i 'm still seeking a way  to bind
wound i suffered that remain tense,
on myself and on others i love,
forever vivid and true  in real sense--
a surreal weight over my soul
      unwilling to move.

                            -by Hakim Kassim.
                             (d. March 01, 2023)