azan

"Azan" - Yasmin Ahmad

"From the trembling throats of men,
out through round open lips,
scattered
like an invisible mist
rolling from atop a tower,
high above the sins of the city.
The cry of the azan.

O strange serenade.
Neither happy nor mournful,
you defy definition.
You admonish, yet offer redemption.
You demand work at inconvenient hours,
but in the end, dispense rest.

O aria of hope.
You announce, acapella,
the end of night, the end of darkness,
as it passes into light.
Your stern voice stirs
eyelids of lead;
your melody calms
the quiver of dew-covered leaves
when they are anxious
for the coming of the sun.

O azan.
I knew your meaning
long before I knew your language.
The children understand you
whose parents have learned not to understand you.

You are five commas,
punctuating a day of nonsensical sentences."