Poone, the Humble Shovel, Suzanne Vega and the Garden of Stones...

The Humble Shovel

You may have ridden in the finest horse and carriage,

You may have feasted from plates of gold and silver,

But to me will you come at the end of your world,

I am your ready servant, whatever your tone,

Me, beside the waiting gravedigger,

Me, your humble shovel

In the Garden of Stones.

.........................

The Best Time to Go. I am so at home at the cemetery, especially now that Poone (my late brother and the one I call Abang Chik) is laid to rest there. The only issue I have is the buzzing mosquitoes that insist on accompanying me wherever I am, at whichever grave I visit. It crossed my mind that the safest place from this annoying insects is to be six feet under. But thank God that my own passing is not mine to choose the time and place. Are we not lucky that the circumstances of our passing shall be in the hand of He Who Created us? He Who knows us best (and despite knowing all our filthy secrets), Loves us best of all? 

It will be the best of time for us, and for those we will leave behind.

Obnoxious. I have no doubt of this, because God has promised us... Sometimes, we living inevitably sigh and yearn for the company of our dearly departed kin or friend. However happy, angry, sad or irritating our relationship with the deceased may have been. One of my brother's closest friend said to me, as we were burying Poone, "Oh my God, he is one of the most obnoxious person I know!" And I agree with him. But he would also agree that we would give all our worldly treasures to have just one more obnoxious moment with him. 

He he he.

Poone's musical taste. Before I leave you, let me leave you with what my brother has left me. A taste in some of the great musicians of our era. In the early eighties, Santa Monica-born folk singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega made a bit of name in England, captivating audiences with her haunting prose and magical guitar. This is one of our favourite(est)... its called 'Cracking'.  

God bless you, sunshine. Be happy and assured of love from God, a love infinite in its breadth and deeper in its solace than your most intimate dreams...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Nora, Tell Him - Men, Women, Adams and the mystifying Eves

Nora, tell him...
Nora, tell him I am okay,
Nora, tell him I am fine,
I am just trippin’
And fallin’ into
Into the best way…

Nora, tell him I am grown up
Nora, tell him I have no choice,
I have no time for love
No time now for little boys…

Nora, tell him I found a book
Nora, tell him I am still faithful,
For to no one else
Have I given
A single
Look,

Nora, tell him he must wait
To see what fate has in store,
Nora, tell him I am passing
Through the servants' door,

Nora, tell him that I will see him later
Under the tree, 
Beneath the crescent moon,
Where we first kissed
Beside the winding brook.

Nora, tell him to wait,
Nora, tell him not to cry,
For Lord knows I miss him so
That I could die…

Nora, tell him
That he will hear my voice,
In the thunder and in the caressing wind,
In the twilight, with the Sufis
And their haunting hymns.
………………

I woke up suddenly at 2am last night. I switched on one of my fav folk singer since the early 1980s, Suzanne Vega with her ethereal song entitled 'Cracking' (Click here to listen)

Then I heard a prose knocking, and immediately I started writing while Vega's dulcet warm voice filled the lonely night as she unhurriedly plucked her guitar.

Women and Men are very different. I have made up my mind about this. As the bestselling book says, we are from Mars and they are from Venus, and (to add) whirling in a celestial orbit around God. I do not deign to write about women's spirituality, because I am a man. So the Nora prose above is quite a departure from the norm. But I do admire them so, because they are just simply so different from us men. It is as if God was chuckling to Himself as He gazes upon the sleeping Adam, "So you want a partner, Adam? You want someone to keep you company in heaven, eh? Hehehe. I am going to create something that will blow you socks off!" 

So many centuries later, from the line of Eve comes a daughter called Suzzane Nadine Vega, singing haunting gentle songs, affecting men as her grandmother Eve had affected Adam all so long ago. If we think broad enough, if we think far enough into the past, we are all connected, you see... a female American folk singer from Santa Monica, California, the Sufis, music, you and me.

Yes, I am glad you agree. God bless you, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way