Full Moon Alive

A sleepless night during my second full moon quarantined on Miami Beach, stirred this poetic outpour. My bedroom has a panoramic view of the Atlantic ocean (I’m blessed and grateful), which every morning treats me with the only live public spectacle we are now allowed to see safely – the sunrise. The open sky is too close to the city so I  cannot glimpse any stars, save for the largest one – the moon.

That night gusts of open ocean winds flagged my silk nightgown in a coup de force of enthralment. I was standing on the terrace, magnetised by the giant lightbulb of the moon glaring full or in some gasp of the changing moment, partly shaded by the fast paced clouds. In that moment I knew I would not sleep easily if I do not chanel some of that energy speaking to me in its commanding voice.

Reading for hours, midnight approaching. I was still afflush with vitality, and I was glad that the usual cradle of the book did not tame my sprinting mind. Lifting my gaze up to the moon, the whispering potency of the night, suddenly, I had to grab paper and pen. On my night table, aside other piled up literature, set face up a small collection of brief poems by the female Pakistani artist Noor Unnahar. Its moon-gray cover titled YESTERDAY I WAS THE MOON nodded to the occasion. It was not about the light though.

Yesterday I was the moon

Sleepless

my soul glaring

a fool

I did not know who I was  

Back then but now I know —

A reflection is not a unique creation

 

Never say “but”, he said

The past is over, yet

Deep down I knew

Strength was a posture covering doubts

Eloquence overshadowed sensuality

Speed floundered calm mind

Carelessness veiled a deep concern

 

Still I surprise myself 

Will I, some day get to know Who I am 

Despite all these flops

Twisting who I am

I am alive,

That reflection ceases before me

 

I shall dwell in a faraway cave

To be pure me

Gratitude to be — but 

Still alive to fully be

Yesterday I was the moon

But now is the morning

Whatever happened in the past, yesterday does not define who you are today. It only says what you did. Deep down, if you connect to yourself is the true you — in the past, present and future.  I feel that I can only glimpse into my own self when I totally shut down emotions as in deep meditation or when I let them out. The wild beasts bursting into the space are tamed. By recognising that these emotions are human part of me, I feel more alive! The full moon reminded me.

This poem by Noor Unnahar resonates with me most:

          do not worry

          about people

 

they’re wearing the same flesh

breathing the same chemicals

walking on the same solid earth

           as you

 

so why should it matter

           when

you are them and they are you

This empowers me, gives me courage to go forward without being burdened by others’ opinions. I purely am and create what I love. While I hope it connects, inspires and elevates others, I am not attached to it, and that is why I never advertise my work or promote (pr) it in any other way. I hope you were empowered by my and Noor’s poems too.

NOTE: There is no mutual agreement or online support exchange between Noor and myself. I purely chose to highlight her work because I bought her poetry book and like it.