The Other Side

By Arzoo Zaheer

I hear these sad whispers, sad cries resonating within and without like “ghosts of the middle passage”

A huge barrier is in place between you and I, reminiscent of the “Berlin Wall”; a cruel separator

Through the crevices of the wall, pours clear blue water drenched in profundity and melancholy sadness, mourning the loss of the People

Scattered on either side of the wall are turtles, hiding protectively under their temporary shells of oblivion

A nothingness constructed out of something called disbelief—disbelief of the power of the self

I casually walk near the wall, peeking through the holes, my soul screaming to see the other side as I get distracted by the turtles

Curiously, I sit idly within a shell, just for the sake of this so called “security”- ha, a naïve, silly experiment of the self

Still, my mind wanders cautiously: What exactly is on the other side? What exactly is on the other side?

And then the answer knocks at my heart in the form of a stanza, a poem, a courante

Know the weight of the self: thy’s weaknesses are thy’s strengths, oh courageous warrior

First have faith, then have courage and then have faith and open that hidden door NoW, before it’s too late

Let the healing occur via the words and let “the Wind” carry it to the Other Side

For relief will come, but only from Within

So seek and purify the Within before Without disintegrates fully leaving you without your shell, huh an obscure shell of oblivion