Picture
by Baraka Blue
(posted with his permission)
Last night I kissed the Black Stone
And, the Black Stone, kissed me back
And all the other loves I thought I had
They fade to black

The temptress disappears
At the arrival of true love
Lusts have all been banished
All has vanished but the one
Who cloaked herself in black,
and there
Descended from the sky
And when she loves, she gazes
'Til her eye becomes your eye

And when her voice addresses
It caresses you inside
And when her truth proclaims itself
All else becomes a lie

And when she turns to question you
Labayk is your reply
For, When and Where are lost
themselves
And Who/Hu becomes the Why

And as her Rahma wells
Within the clouds, they start to cry
And Luscious green ascends
Up from the fields that once were dry

I reached out for the corner stone
And she reached out for me
And when I touched her skin again
My drop became the sea
I embraced the Kaba door
The door opened in me
And when we intertwined
There was no space for two to be

There was only one
And one was all that there could be
For all there was
Was woven of her pure unicity

She unveiled her kiswa  cloth
And bade me kiss the spot
Only lovers get to see
In awe I froze and trembled
But her eyes told me, "proceed".

A lion needs no teacher
Instinct knows to stalk its pray
The gazelle whispered, "capture me"
Though it feigned to run away

And loving her was somehow
Loving who I alwyas was
And when there was no I at all
Then all there was—was Love

And from her essence bloomed the world  
And blossomed like a rose 
What was this opening? 
If not her loving to be known 

From nothingness she called me forth 
And brought me to her home 
She poured until my cup was full 
Then let it over flow 

And then she told me secrets 
That no soul could ever know
And asked me what was here 
Within my breast, if not her throne 

And what she showed me, after all
Was who I’d always been 
And that the treasure chest she’d hid 
Was buried in my skin 

Her door I had been knocking 
'Til my knuckles worn thin
And when she opened it I saw
I’d been knocking from within 

When she holds the mirror 
To see yourself’s the only sin 
For the surface’s only purpose 
Is reflecting what’s within 

All is perishing, anew, 
And every flower wilts 
And when they do, her blossom eyes 
Are staring through us still 

And when she called me love, 
Her calling rent me from my veil 
And when she breathed, in me, her word
My being became her sail 

And when I journeyed forth 
Upon the sea of the unseen 
My vessel overflowed 
With what was flowing from her spring 

And when the waves had calmed 
An eye could see right through the sea 
But most miraculous of all: 
The sea could see through me 

And with a single breath
She then commanded me to be 
And taught me all the names 
And that the names were all in me

And only the submitted ones, 
She said, 
Are ever free 
Sure as the greatest redwood  
Is within the smallest seed 

The self it is a gift, she said, 
And not your enemy 
For when it’s disciplined, 
It is a strong and trusty steed 

So send it from the wild 
Into the stables of Ya Sin
Until it prostrates to the truth 
And attains tranquility 

I reached out for the corner stone 
And she reached out for me 
And when I touched her skin again 
My drop became her sea 

—— 

Sha’ban 1440 | Mecca
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