With the COVID-19 hoax and the global lockdowns feeding people fear while experimenting on us with the vaccines (I took a few
vaccines, and the side effects were nasty), I decided to write. It was my way of managing the feelings of being trapped with nothing
practical to do. I began writing poetry about Islam, and a dormant pain emerged: the plight of the Palestinians. There was a time
when I constantly prayed while learning about Islam and was in a constant state of learning and purity. With my madness, I thought I
had lost it all, but it eventually returned, and so did the trauma. My story is in my words of pain and hope. There was a long time after
my mental collapse when days would hazily go by with little reason to live and even less purpose. I survived it, and I've come out far
more substantial and resilient than I once was.
Why?
All your actions
Start with an intention,
Like when you look at your complexion,
In a twisted reflection,
Self-affection,
Do you feel narcissism?
Or do you want to be a better person?
Is your appearance a reason why you get affection?
Supposition.
It's like a decision, upside down, or an incision.
It could leave your future bright or full of affliction.
Sometimes, they use an intricate magician.
That makes your life a devilish complication.
Cursing you with evil precision.
Satan's rasping desperation.
Your heart is left empty, like an incarceration.
Whatever you say or do is in deletion,
But invention!
Repletion.
So, there's little completion.
It's always hard to talk when no one listens,
No communication.
(From my first book, Bridge of Wings, Vol. 1)
The bully.
When
I
was
young,
I
was
bullied
quite
severely.
I've
never
talked
about
it,
but
it
could
have
been
better
or
worse.
This
kid
who
got
expelled
from
a
separate
school
was
allowed
to
learn
in
mine.
The
boy
was
trouble,
and
I
knew
it.
Because
I
was
quiet,
the
other
kids
thought
I
was
weird.
Friends
could
have
helped,
but
those
were
not
really
friends
as
they
chose
the
side
with
more
kids
than
helping
me
out
due
to
a
sad
form
of
peer
pressure,
where
reasons
get
clouded
no
matter
how
wrong.
Traitors,
and
they
never
truly
got
a
single
word
out
of
me.
Even
though
it
was
a
tough
final
year
at
primary,
I
was
pretty
happy to be at school, away from the screaming and shouting at home.
So,
I
said
something
to
this
bully.
I
wasn't
expecting
it,
but
he
tripped
me
and
sat
on
top
of
me,
punching
my
head
into
the
ground.
I
took
it
as
much
as
I
Could,
but
I
cried.
I
got
my
revenge
eventually.
My
so-called
friends
just
stood and watched.
A
few
weeks
after
being
told
what
to
do
and
fearing
walking
home
from
school,
the
Pakistani
lad
said
something
vile
and
racist.
Me
and
my
friends
jumped
those
racist
Pakistanis,
and
it
felt
good
as
we
emerged
victorious.
As
the
boy
was
limping
off,
I
punched
him
very
hard
on
the
back
of
his
head.
He
got unconscious.
A
few
years
later,
he
died
due
to
a
brain
tumour.
Was
it
my
fault?
I
don't
know.
I've
partially
lived
with
this
guilt,
even
if
that
fight
had
nothing
to
do
with it. It could have, though. Maybe it was Allah's way of punishing him.
They
almost
expelled
me
this
time,
but
writing
about
why
I
did
what
I
did
kept
me
safe
from
being
thrown
out
of
school.
I
tried
not
to
get
into
fights
after
that.
I
found
nothing
poetic
about
school
and
left
secular
studies
to
study Islam after secondary school.
I
decided
to
learn
martial
arts
for
self-defence
as
bullies
liked
singling
me
out
due
to
my
speechlessness.
I
chose
Jeet
Kune
Do
(JKD).
I
had
a
few
fights
at
secondary
school,
and
All
the
caucasian
and
black
kids
classed
me
as
the
bully
this
time.
They
were
all
terrified
of
me;
the
girls
saw
the
weakness
in
me,
though,
and
sometimes
did
lewd
things.
I
once
put
this
one
guy
to
sleep
for picking on the Muslim sisters of my school.