by Tabassam Shah

Thanking God for this day

I close my fajr prayers

Cupping my hands with pleas for peace

I click my tasbeeh beads

In remembrance of holiness

This twilight before dawn

Is only appropriate

For the whispers of prayer

And the plaintive robin song

Comforting like a purr

Curls of sandalwood incense unfurl

Easing the day quietly, slowly

It should always be like this

But there are mornings

When ease loses its battles with malaise

And to breathe is a burden for the lungs

Which prefer to rest in shallowness

Because rest was absent overnight

Overwhelming disquiet ensues

And I feel unsettled in my own skin

Eyelids remain heavy

In moments like these

Nerves rattle in my mind

And settle into cobwebbed corners

Leaving me with nothing

To pour forth from my heart

Tabassam Shah is a Southeastern Pennsylvania poet who centers eco-poetics in her writing. In her workshops and poetry advocacy work, she encourages people of all backgrounds to share stories of their relationships to nature. A Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, Tabassam is working on picture books about Pakistani American childhood. Her debut poetry collection, Red & Crescent Moons, reflects upon life in rural Appalachia.