I ache in my vessel…

I ache in my vessel
What a task humanity must be to be cast
Solitarily
With no handbook
And no memory
And given the keys to the world •

After a death, each being who knew the deceased suffers. During my moments of suffering, I was angry. Frustrated. Who truly knows from whence we came. Who truly knows where we will be going afterward. But I did know that in my moments of pain, I was alone. I was born alone. I will die alone. We were born knowing nothing. Most of us will die, still knowing nothing. And how unfair it felt to live in such an existence while experiencing the great tragedies of life, and no manual to aid us through it. All holy books were created thousands of years ago before modern science, so I do not place much stock in them. Thus, I had to create my own wisdoms to pull me through, in a way that made sense to me. And I made it. Eventually.

I share all of these things I learned in my two books, Four Years in Chrysalis and Acres of Shadow (link in biography). Conjuring those words, composing them, pulled me through. And I share them now in the hopes that they will help you as well. I survived. So can you. •

Poem from Four Years in Chrysalis
© Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq Publishing
Follow @AishaTariqa for more daily poetry and inspiration •