The mystic and the pulpit IV

(C) Copyright 1997, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal.

A traveler on the road

was asked if he would speak

on travels and travails.

He said: "they are the same:

We are all refugees

exiled from our home.

"Born into our exile,

consumed in transience,

we forget our home,

and occupy ourselves

with Benthamite pursuits.

"And thus I travel still

upon this transient earth,

so that I may recall

that I am never home.

"I embrace the absurd,

and wander wondering

about the journey's end.

"The travels and travails

of my nomadic life

remind me of Prophets

(estranged in their own land),

and call me to the Truth

Which keeps me company".