Ali

 By: Sister Fiddha

The horse came closer,
The woman quivered,
"STOP!" she cried-
"We have nothing!"
Its hooves beat the dessert sand,
Lessening the distance-
"What we had has been taken-
"Stop! the children will wake up"
Still the hooves and the enshrouded rider
Came closer.
Menacing in the dark .
It came so close-
Almost touching the lady,
She grabbed its reins
Angrily jerking its head forward -
"Do you know whose daughter I am?"
The turban slipped
Revealing Ali's face-
And Zainab stared
At the face she had buried
In kufa.
The face that was covered in blood.
The face that looked on with more sorrow
At her pain
And more suffering
Than it had that fateful day
In the month of Ramadhan