The Driver
Esteban Osegueda
The engine revs
As the car turns on.
Loud and ready,
As I keep my foot on the pedal steady.
I shift gears,
As I am on the highway,
while I steer.
A loud BOOM BOP.
I frowned. I knew this situation was full of doom.
The car flipped and landed face down.
I parried pieces of piercing glass flying towards my face.
Car Car Car
Where did it all go wrong?
Now, you leave me with scars scars scars.
Saying I have no feet,
ain’t so discreet.
I suppose it is my fault,
I should have just come to a complete halt.
Being drunk,
Everything about it stunk.
Ammi (Mother) – Syria
Bond Biryani
Having dinner with Ammi (mother) after our evening prayers,
I still remember her glimmering eyes as
She fed me soup from her bowl.
Dusk grew into a dark, silent night as the sun went down,
The moon hid behind a cloudy gown,
She kissed me tenderly as I went for oil
To massage her feet, she winced as she
Lied on the off white cotton bed sheet,
I glanced out the window, oh the aroma of trees and soil,
The sounds of silence and birds, the humming of bees
I reached up the shelf and got the oil,
As off I went, I heard a shriek from outside,
I witnessed a broken star shooting across the sky,
I watched in awe as it glared against the pitch black night,
I felt a poke against my heart,
felt a heat rise against me as it got bright,
I saw as it grew sharper than light,
I stood frozen against this dreary sight,
I heard my ammi screech from far,
calling my name as everything went dark,
I saw her fading in a sway,
Screaming I reached out but she went away,
An eternity later my eyes opened and I looked around,
Everything was smoky and hazy, there was no sound,
All I heard were cries of hope dying against the fire,
I looked for my family in the smoke but to no avail.
Under the fiery haze, I saw a heart wrenching site,
She laid there in front of me, my dearest ammi,
I still remember that night, and her beautiful face,
I remember that sight,
all it took was a matter of moments
For my life to become a never ending fight.
The taste of soup still lurking in my mouth,
still had the oil on my hands,
When my ammi faded away in the faraway lands,
I still look at the sky with a mired heart,
A broken star fulfills a wish but this one tore my dreams apart,
I still visit the place, nothing left but debris and my razed fate,
I have a future big as a sea, I still have a life ahead of me,
But all I ever wanted was a spoon of soup from my ammi.
Musings 