requiem

spring is itching to leave Amman

the sky a burnt blue 

and as I leave the city

for the last time

the highways and shops

make way to fields

which just a month ago

were a wet, crisp green

and are now alchemised 

by the beginning of summer

memories fly past my window

the journeys

the discoveries

and friendships forged

and as I move through

this well travelled road

I am looking both forward and back

I always say I hate goodbyes

and now this has become

home

it feels wrong to

but there was one goodbye

I could not say

she- the object of fascination

for so long was absent

so I deposited a letter on her bed

and quietly left

she had served her purpose

just as I let go of her

with strength

I can hold these memories

close, but not too close

that they sting me

with regret or nostalgia

somewhere in the midst

of this transitory landscape

I realise I have changed

irrevocably too

perhaps I was a child

when I arrived

and am no longer one now

or more of a woman

than I was before

and I swear

as the Adhan is being called

the sweetest sound earth

it is for me:

come to pray- pray for the earth

and the people which nourished

you here

come, for we know you

are a believer still

in life, in love

in something as deep and

meaningful

as these eight months here

come, for indeed

heaven still holds 

and will always hold a place

for believers like you

but now I must look forward

at last

my true home is calling me back

and the Adhan doesn’t really

call for me at all

but for people

who can truly speak

the language of the earth