ACCRA

By

i needed that trip

to Ghana so badly;

for healing, 

for restoration,

for learning

and love;

and Lord

gave me

a beautiful boy

who rode horses on the beach

night-dark of skin

with strong hair of coils

and an undaunted

spirit.

and we loved and fought

and traveled

to Cape Coast

and Kumasi 

and Takoradi

together;

bonded by our proximity,

our history, 

our faith

and time.

until my stay there

was no more…

and i returned

to the daily struggle

and lonliness

that plagues humans

and African-kind

who reside

in hostile

lands.
Linda Tauhid

©2/16/20

Love Feast

By

i want

to feed you…

make you

some special 

dishes

from the

plant domain;

i’d like to chop

and blend

and combine

and stir;

and add aromatic

spices…

i’d like to

prepare

a table for you;

feed you

with my fingers

hold a cup

to your lips

and watch you 

sip.

i’d like to prepare

for you

an eye-feast

of dates and sweets

for your dessert;

and when

you are sated

i know you

would be mine.

i 

know

you

would

be

mine…
Linda Tauhid

©2/10/20

Leopold Sedhar Senghor

By

do you remember

when you lent me

the book

by poet 

Leopold Sedhar Senghor

and we

used to sit

and read

“Night in Sine”

and other poetry

together on

a Nairobi afternoon…

are we both so

far

from that

time and reality?

i have waited

long

and late

for

Love.

shunning

the mundane–

the predictable

outcomes,

the disappointments,

the tears…

until now

i no longer

fear

to represent

Love

to its fullest:

washed,

baptized

and

cleansed.
Linda Tauhid

©2/13/20

reprinted and revised from 2013

Force

By

1.

have i

been dead

or just asleep?
walking around aimless

breathing…

hearing, seeing, thinking…

but numb.

why does it take

lightening

and thunder

to wake one up,

to snap one 

to attention?

to open awareness 

stimulate assessment

bring laughter

bring tears

bring one

to one’s knees?

2.

you

are a power–

a force

a statement of reckoning,

a truth.

you are a blizzard,

a tornado,

a forest fire,

a tsunami!

and i

am bits of earth

fluttering

in the wake

of your

approach.
Linda Tauhid

©1/18/20

Alex

By

it was January-cold

when

he left.

amid a winter

that touched Houston

as well as

Boston.

and rides through

frozen streets

with frozen tears–

frozen through the years

of being shed,

frozen by harsh days

and nights

and years

of living

and seeing death.

i don’t know why

i am selfish and mean.

while he

was so good

and generous.

and now he lies

waiting–

but not cold;

warmed 

by the love

of many admirers,

four sisters,

and 

good friends.
Linda Tauhid

©1/5/20

John and John

By

i don’t know where

you are John;

i don’t know where

you are

John.

but i am listening to

Coltrane 

this morning

and i remember

the respect

that you had

for the masters.

while i, then,

was just a young

neophyte

positioning myself

as cool

before the message

and the magic

transformed me too.

and now i fill

my Sunday mornings

with music

and memories…

having reached so far

from that starting place

that put

us all

together;

compressed

by time

that dims

as well

as sharpens;

that

takes

as well

as gives–

under the auspices

of The One

who sees

and knows

it all.
Linda Tauhid

©12/15/19