because I’ve never been there

(for Tehmina)

because I’ve never been there

somehow I connect with your struggle

fast with you

pilgrimage to Mecca

because I’ve never been there

I offer you my hand

buy you books and pulseras

part the curtains in your room

air out the dirge

your fear of darkness,

plant hummingbirds in your hair

reverence is easy

my kindness revitalizes

recalling music never heard before

now sounding familiar

across ancient deserts

our people used to share

because I’ve never been there

I absorb distant voices from your memories

songs slipping through me like water

cleansing my path to selflessness

forging your path to freedom,

yes I can feel your struggle

every time you breathe

because I’ve never been there

because I’ve never been there

I pay no attention to

these rumors of holy war

further restrictions of the mind

insults and mistrust

garments to obstruct the light

because I’ve never been there

I wish to build a structure

pastel visions

open to the air,

and because you’ve been there

that heroic garden

begins to beckon to you again

a place where rebirth begins

a place where I may have been

though neither of us care to remember

6/92

Tucson