An independent, ad-free leftist magazine of critical essays, poetry, fiction, and art.

In Shaa Allah

We were _from childhood_ taught a 

word to earth our faith, our fears & 

our wants. In Shaa Allah; meaning if 

God wants. Hope is another parasitic

demon that feeds on its host, it kills. 

In Shaa Allah, this war will be over and 

our husbands would be returned, unharmed. 

 

A mother awaits her martyred son on the

same ground at which fate parted them. 

In Shaa Allah, someday, anytime soon, I’d 

see my son & again, kiss his forehead. 

 

On this arid land, peace would come to stay 

& In Shaa Allah, nothing would e’er exist to 

chase it out. In Shaa Allah, this volcano would

stop & we all shall live to tell its tales, In Shaa Allah. 

 

In Shaa Allah, birds would, again, dance

joyfully above our roofs. May the sounds of 

flutes and drums that tell about emergence 

of joy be revived, again. In Shaa Allah. 

We’ll lift the lamp of solace & may it flutter 

through the four edges of the world. In Shaa Allah. 

 


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