Artwork by Israa Tariq

 

 

Comma
By Marziah Rashid

 

“In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” Tension

leaves the tips of my fingers.

The practiced words fall from my lips—

“God is greatest, God is greatest, God is greatest”—like fall

leaves. The tips of my fingers

reach for the elusive.

“God is greatest, God is greatest, God is greatest.” Like

a small child, I am curled on the prayer rug.

For the elusive

hovers above me, I have been told

since a small child. I am curled on the prayer rug

like a comma, every day in the direction of the sunset.

 

 

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Marziah Rashid is a 20-year-old Pakistani student in her junior year majoring in English Literature at the American University of Sharjah. In the future, she hopes to attend graduate school in the United States and then pursue a career as an educator, because she never wants to leave the classroom. She intends to eventually return to AUS to teach in the English department, and do live singing shows in cafes on the side. She is a keen enthusiast of all things tea-related.