Ragged Stranger Poem by Shameela Yoosuf Ali

Noon sun shone baking the roadside stones.
On my doorstep, a shadow fell motionless.

Torn was his clothes an unkempt being.
A voice so meek rose within his throat.

Laughed out loud my majestic guest,
Seated on the throne of my home in his lavish attire.

I turned towards the visitor deserting the stranger.
Honeyed words drowned me and I lost my eyes.

I became his eyes and ears and I unlocked my lips,
Only to praise him with devoted glory.

The drained stranger sat on a corner,
Reciting something, sturdy and calm.

He kept on saying the same thing over and over.
Sun passed and the moon passed but the outsider remained.

I fed him neither food nor water but he survived.
On cloak of darkness, I rendered my ears to his verses.

" I am the Truth; I am the Truth though I am ragged"
My blind eyes began to see the light out of the blue.

I revolved to see my guest now with distrust,
Remained there the Ugly LIE in his sumptuous attire.

Poem by Shameela Yoosuf Ali
2015 April 18