Musings

A collection of articles and poetry for anyone to reference during difficult times, stressful days, and moments when manifesting your true self.

Travels Rashad Muhammad Travels Rashad Muhammad

2018: Our Homegoing

Home, of course, is a state of mind. But there is something about breathing in the West African air, feeling the wind blow through my hair, and watching the sun rise and set each day that makes the feeling of being alive on the African continent different than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.

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Poetry

  • There it goes again,
    that plane
    swirling across the blue canvas
    breezing past the fluffy pillows
    leaving behind not a single trace.

    There he was again,
    sitting at the train station
    glaring at the iron rails
    wishing, wishing…

    There she stood again,
    immersed in a field of magnolias
    watching the bees pollinating, being
    everything she sought to be.

    Here we are again,
    living out what we call truth,
    screaming at ourselves for not being
    enough of what we already are.

  • You know that person
    Who seems to have the
    Strength of a thousand warriors,
    Whose smile illuminates darkness,
    And whose soul overflows with life?

    The one who believes in you
    When the path becomes unclear,
    And who guides your way
    On days when no one knows
    That you are lost…?

    You are that person.

  • So she dreamt,
    and she dreamt,
    and she dreamt
    some more.

    Until she opened her eyes
    and realized
    she had all she
    was looking for.

  • Wake up and decide
    That today is your day
    And that every day that follows
    Will be yours too.

    Breathe in and remember
    That you are the one
    In control of
    Who you want to be,
    And once you remember that,
    You’re free.

  • If everything is temporary
    And we are everything
    Then our spirits are both eternal
    Linked together like silly string.

    I used to sit and wait at windows
    Nitpicking at my mind’s extremes
    Thinking and wishing
    Of better tomorrows
    Begging you
    To hear my screams

    If nothing lasts forever
    And we are nothing
    Then I’d give back every single year
    To remain with you, here.

    I’d press pause on that simple clause
    The one which stole my heart —
    “We’re infinite, in-fin-ite”
    It still pierces like a dart.

  • Etait là,
    Toute seule, comme toujours

    Je voulais la suivre,
    L’entourer,
    L’ouvrir au monde qui l’attendait,

    Celui qui lui demander
    De découvrir ce qu’elle était
    Et de l’attraper.

    Parfois je la regarde,
    Et il me semble qu’elle le sent
    Cette sensation mystique
    Sensuelle, chimique…

    Notre liaison est éternelle
    Nos âmes, partagées,
    Je la regardais.

  • my daughter
    teaches me more about life
    than any classroom i’ve ever
    been in, taught in, sought in.
    she is a tenured professor
    in a semester that never ends

  • I felt this urge to write you,
    And spell out how you make me feel,
    But verse, prose, and haikus
    Fail to encapsulate the way
    My heart tugs toward you,
    Like a flower leans for the sun.

    The light which emanates from you
    Revives my wilted spirit,
    Suffocates my twisted thoughts
    And revitalizes all I’ve ever known
    About the world,
    Why I’m here,
    And what here is.

    You are my Universe
    My solar system
    The star that guides my way.
    The vision that inspires
    All that I have yet to say.

  • What if I had loved you more?
    What would that look like anyway?
    Like breathing meant being closer
    To your fingertips grazing my skin,
    Or blinking meant feeling your lips
    Pressed hard against mine,
    Or speaking meant uttering every single
    Adjective which could encompass the
    depths of my affections for you...

    I have loved you with every inch of my being
    And if I could find another millimeter
    To offer you, I would.

    I would make you see what they all see
    That you’re everything I have sought,
    Even before I started seeking.

    I don’t know if I can love you more
    Than I already do,
    But I will anyway.

  • Whether you are here
    Or you are away
    I am with myself,
    Always.

  • And one day I took the risk
    To be who I knew I always was.

    I haven’t looked back since.

  • “Wait”, she said,
    After minutes of silence
    Separating her from
    What she knew she deserved.

    “I love you too.”

  • she had been fooled --
    and she knew it.
    believing she was the outlier
    in his galaxy of constellations

    he had drawn her in, connected the dots,
    and left her swinging there

    like the pendulum
    whose tick marks each tock
    without a care.

    instead of running
    when there was time
    she froze her path
    hypnotized by the familiar chime...

    before the broken lovers loved each other,
    they may have loved another.
    their scarred hearts are healed forever,
    ready to love again

    and again,
    and again.
    it’s a cycle, you see...
    a never-ending melody.

  • José called me today,
    and when I heard his voice it felt like
    a time-machine had swooped me by the feet,
    dragged me down the rabbit hole,
    and brought me back to that day at Disney World,
    where all we did was spin, spin spin, win, win, win.

    Winter will arrive today,
    and although my clothes are still warm,
    my feelings for you are frigid as the ice
    settling like frosting on top of the thermosphere;
    I guess I’ll spend Christmas alone this year.

  • i’m in love with a vibration of myself i’m still creating.
    and that’s what makes it all so fascinating.
    i sense her, my blooming self, emerging from within.
    she’s telling me,
    keep going, keep going…
    you’re almost there.
    you’re almost home.
    and i’ll be right here,
    waiting for you,
    when you arrive.