Letters To The Moon

WRITTEN BY UMMKULTHUM

Photograph courtesy of Ummkulthum.

Of Life

Of the flowers you were born 

A rose. 

Nay, more like a peony.

And of life you were born 

As the night:

Luminous and beautiful.

Of the ocean, my dear you were born

A nymph, 

A spirit of nature.

My, how beautiful. 

You never seemed 

Scared.

Of life you wanted it

All:

Its pearls and jewelry, 

Its diamonds and gold.

Gold golder than gold. 

You wanted it all, you see.

And life denied you of 

Them. 

And all of life, you swallowed 

It. 

And you keep it all in your

Little heart.

And it fits! Like a leg does to a

Stocking. 

And you weep, my love. 

You weep for you want it 

All. 

★

Honey And Musk

Is that the Garden of Eden in your eyes? 

For I could almost swear I spotted the 

River of Honey

Perhaps that explains your honey-like

Loveliness

Your sweet words spilling like honey 

From your lips.

Could it be that you’re made out of it? 

Honey flowing through you

Honey dripping from you

Is that the Garden of Eden I see? 

Could it be that you are

A flower from it? 

So fragrant that I could almost

See your scent

The Garden of Eden 

Or am I only dreaming? 

About these night booming eyes of 

Yours? 

For it was the Garden of Eden I saw. 

You, the likes of honey and musk.

★

Everything I Desire

It was as though she was dreaming. Dreaming of loneliness. A loneliness that frightened her. She remembered reading her night time devotions. A prayer against the spirits of the night and another for her yearning heart. In her dream she was gazing. She was gazing at the blue sky and bizarrely she thought she could see the horizon. And she stared at it and watched the sun rise. She felt something inside her. Happiness, was it? Or comfort? 

“I am everything I desire,” she said and felt her heart so full. 

And later on she said, “I felt as though spring was beginning inside my little heart.” And she became an artist for that was her way of depicting her dream. She made art out of the feelings of her heart. 

Sometimes, when one is too quiet beside her, you can catch her staring at the sky. And she desires the sunrise like one who has been fasting and is thirsty. She prays for her yearning heart. Still, she prays.

Ummkulthum is a 20-year-old Tanzanian girl who was born and lives in Qatar. She writes poetry and short stories that are inspired by the dreams she gets at night and is “homesick for a heaven she’s never been to”. Ummkulthum spent her childhood reading books about fairies and magic. She tries to instill the same kind of feeling into her work. “An ode to the fairies who made life seem prettier,” she says. You can find more of  her work on her Instagram @kulthumsarchive and her Twitter @kulthumsarchive.