KAREEM ABDULLAH

 

 

In The Presence Of Friendship

 

On the brink of dawn,

where the earth rises from its slumber

and the sky grasps the first fingers of light,

your hand extends to me

like a bridge of reassurance over the river of solitude.

 

Friendship—

is not a word to be said,

it is secret roots

beneath the deep soil of our souls,

nourished by a single pulse

and bearing fruit in a season of storms.

 

In you, I see my mirror,

not the one that reflects my face,

but the one that reveals my heart as it is:

with its scars, its light,

with dreams, half of which fell along the way

and the other half you carry with me

without asking why.

 

We are two clouds meeting on one peak, one thunder laughing in our hearts, one wind carrying our secrets far away.

 

And when evening comes, and the stars extinguish their lights, I realize that friendship is not a moment we spend, but a homeland we reside in. Your homeland within me is vaster than this universe.

 

To My Beautiful Friend

 

You who come from a distant light,

Like a flower that grew in the heart of the clouds,

Or a melody that slipped from the throat of an unseen bird,

Whenever you smile,

A second sun shines within me.

 

My friend,

In your presence, the clamor in my head quiets,

Words become familiar,

And the world becomes less cruel.

 

 You are not just a shadow passing by my path. You are the path itself, the shade that protects me, and the dew that washes my face when my features tire.

 

I know that true friendship is not measured by meetings, but by that secret thread that binds souls together.

 

And here I am, drawn to you, like a child to a second mother, like a bird to its first branch.

 

So always be as you are: a beautiful face in the mirror of life, and a voice that reminds me that beauty remains, no matter how high the winds blow around us.

 

KAREEM ABDULLAH

 

KAREEM ABDULLAH is an Iraqi poet, writer and playwright. Born in Baghdad in 1962, Kareen Abdullah is the author of "Baghdad in Its New Dress" (Book House 2015). His name has appeared in many important Arabic literary magazines and he won the Tajdeed Prose Poetry Prize in 2016. Kareem has published eight collections of poetry in Arabic and his poems have been translated into numerous languages. Creator of the highly successful cultural project that promotes poets and artists with the critical literary and stylistic analysis that he carries out in collaboration with the international cultural promoter Elisa Mascia - Italy, with subsequent publications in Alessandria today Magazine and on the blog nonsoloarteepoesia Magiche Emozioni dell'Anima. He is an official international member of Ciesart and has been published in Humanity Magazine Global