Typewriter Rodeo: Holy Month, In The Time Of Pandemic

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By David FruchterMay 22, 2020 3:12 pm,

Many Texans are celebrating Ramadan differently this year than in the past. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Holy Month, In The Time Of Pandemic

the walls of the mosque

sing to themselves

this Ramadan

 

especially late in the evening,

when the remembered prayers

of tarawih echo

and the running of small feet

this year, only echoes

and memory

 

its is as if the tantalizing aromas

of iftaar leftovers,

waiting to be shared

still drift

through still air

but this year

fellowship and prayer

are staying home

and the tea urns are empty

 

perhaps it is easier,

without the distractions

of seeing old familiar faces

finding their places

the coveted prayer spots

and voices raised in greeting

 

Easier to practice dhikr, the meditation

in remembrance of Allah

to focus on worship

to get enough sleep, for a change

 

perhaps

 

and the net that connects all believers

still touches each one of us

 

sometimes it uses zoom

 

and one could weep from the purity of it

this Ramadan

the purity and the loneliness

 

David Fruchter

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