PoetryABSeptember 29, 2024My eyes are deep, I love my work, I will not compromise my beliefs, And for me this is good, I love to walk the beach, And one day I will walk the beach, I am so richly blessed, I will lie me down upon my bed, I am a beautiful man, Morrocan Friend

Displaced Moroccan Friend

My eyes are deep
Laughter alights within them
And the sadness I sometimes feel
I do not allow to spoil my day.

I love my work.
I have God's ability in my hands
to create something out of nothing.

I always do my best.

I will not compromise my faith.
I will not compromise who I am.
I will not turn my back on what I am.

I will, though, compromise my religion.
Religion is not the Guarantor of faith.
Faith is not hamstrung by religion.

I can love a man. I can love a woman.

For me, this is good.
This IS of Him, Her, She, They, It even.
I have assurance,
Abandon m?
I will not be abandoned.

Nor will abandonment
here,
in this life,
be my confrontation,
my outcome…
except in minds
so minuscule,
locked within
the never touching
train tracks
that clackety-clack, clackety-clack
to religious oblivion.

I love to walk the beach.
I love to feel the hot sand
beneath my feet.

I love to hear the crash of waves
upon the seashore,
The call of seagulls.

One day I will walk the beach
with a hand in my hand,
We will be at peace
with each other,
And with the world.

I am so richly blessed.
There are people
who DO take an
interest in me.
So I am not alone;
and I have only
to remember
this one thing.

The Creator has only to speak,

and it is!

I will lie me down upon my bed
in the watches of the night,
and I will listen to the night,
My head resting against the saddle.

I will listen to the voices of the past.
I will know that these are my ancestors guiding me.
I have nothing to fear.

I am a beautiful man.
I am a beautiful woman.
I am a beautiful creation.
I will be who I am.
I will be what I am.

Ian Bradley Marshall

Author Note

Written in 2015 and in tribute to a friend in Morocco, which country is beautiful, whose people are wonderful, yet whose mindset sees me and my people as an affront to their God.