Disclaimer: The following poem was submitted by a guest contributor. Guest blog posts do not necessarily reflect endorsed viewpoints from Islamic Relief USA.
Donor Report
Feel for these families
Fill up these pantries
Put your heart in your hand and the money will land with ease
Donations for what every woman and man needs
There's a humanity that these tight demands squeeze
Time is sinking, catch the opportunity before the land leaves
Oh traveler, who couldn't even afford a shawl
We've tossed Js on tree branches while from off your bare feet you had to crawl
This is a letter of apology that I'm going to attempt to scrawl
What costs more, a food package or a meal
What if you could have both your cake and answer an urgent appeal
The cost of jannah is expensive, but that sounds like quite a deal
The concern isn't just how we're portrayed
Looking nice instead of being nice, that's a poor trade
And an abuse of the provisions that - not you - but your Lord made
The starving or the satiated, who should be more afraid
And until the peace can come then these packages are coming with peace
This is the moment where the wallet's voice is the only one that speaks
Is it giving salaams
Or making up plans, while preventable diseases are breaking up clans
What could a few dollars take from your hands
Not a life
Time is of the essence and it might vanish tonight
Don't you want to awaken to a grave whose varnish is light?
Or have the seconds tick against you
Imagine death is so sudden you can't tell the kids "I miss you"
"My jaw got blown off but in the next life I'll kiss you"
This isn't charity it's clarity
If you're not reliable now then when will you ever be
Do you have two hearts and love with them separately?
We know what's going on, we're receiving updates obsessively
What's progress if our brothers and sisters and their progeny can't progress successively
Just being candid, on alert, a little hurt
This ummah is a body, this feels like acupuncture across Earth
Far from therapeutic
More like having a collapsed lung and your doctor tried to TheraFlu it
Throw your aid to unaided like stones thrown in Mina
How many of you would have supported the Prophet when he came to Medina
When walking a tight rope adopt the posture of a ballerina
Either you're helping yourself or helping hearts from Mali to Indonesia
Refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Europe, South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania
2019 I was told to write for Yemen
Before 2020 wastes, don't let your provision
Feel for these families
Fill up these pantries
Put your heart in your hand and the money will land with ease
Donations for what every woman and man needs
There's a humanity that these tight demands squeeze
Time is sinking, catch the opportunity before the land leaves
This poem was submitted by M.G. Badawi, a guest contributor and dedicated IRUSA volunteer. You can read more of his poetry here.
