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      October 10, 2020عيد الأضحى (Eid al-Ahda)Sarah Mohammed

      Eid Mubarak

      The gentle blessing floats off our tongues like
      shallow breaths, as morning dew from the grass kisses our bare feet.
      We gather in unity; we are one on this holy morning.
      Umma starts the ترتيل‎ (Tarteel) that materializes into our faith.
      We rise together, voices mangled with accents,
      dressed with youth and age, we combine
      into the rich and powerful tajwid of worship.
      We are no longer reciting. Our hearts sing with love and devotion
      to ourselves, each other and our beliefs, blending
      into the burning drop of light rising slowly
      above us, streaks of deep color across delicate morning blue.
      The prayers end. We nourish ourselves with hand-cooked meals.
      We can taste them before bringing the food to our lips.
      A leaf rustles. No one dares disturb our sanctuary
      blessed by Mother Nature herself on our celebration, our Eid,
      but we were wrong,
      A mob came in our place of worship and
      screamed slurs
      They waved their tattered cardboard signs in our faces
      our clasped hands our beating hearts
      we looked at other faces they could wreck us
      it was our time to be united to be pure and true
      we are Americans anyway why should we “leave Americans alone”
      we were born in the valleys of this country in the patterns
      of practice Eid Mubarak
      The gentle blessing floats off our tongues like shallow breaths
      as we huddle together in tightly packed rows against the sticky
      linoleum floors of my uncle’s apartment

      from 2020 RYPA

      Sarah Mohammed (age 13)

      Why do you like to write poetry?

      “To me, writing poetry is not only an incredibly cathartic experience, but a way to convey messages of racism and misconceptions to others. Being a Muslim-American girl born to two immigrant parents who work very hard to rise in society, I relate to the stereotyping and profiling around Muslims, and I have learned to embody the grit and willpower needed to assimilate in this changing society. Poetry, to me, is a common language that helps to break boundaries in culture, religion, and gender to share our pain, anger, and experiences with thought that is deep and provoking. In a sense, poetry creates the magic in John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’—where the man-made chasm of society doesn’t exist, where there is no stranger, and instead we are one world of dreamers, more powerful than ever before, limitless with just a sky of hopes above us. I hope to raise awareness and embody the voice of change through my poetry.”

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