Let it Flow

By Yacoob Manjoo

When inspiration strikes, there's no choice but to write. You become the instrument through which fears and dreams, hopes and frustrations, and thoughts hidden from the world all flow – cathartically – onto pages that reflect snapshots of life.

Let it Flow captures a journey of poetic self-expression through the author's twenties and thirties – evolving from an insecure young man, through marriage, fatherhood, and the toils of adult responsibility.

Coupled with spiritual reflections on life and the world we live in, this collection hopes to inspire, uplift, and benefit all who browse its pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yacoob Manjoo
• Release date: Nov 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780620843898

Yacoob Manjoo

Yacoob Manjoo is a South African writer, blogger, husband, and father of two. Writing is his passion, and he's shared his work over many years via his blog. He works in the communications field, but has also written articles and produced content for various Islamic publications – including Productive Muslim, AboutIslam.net, and AccidentalMuslims.com.

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Copyright © 2019 Yacoob Manjoo. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author at [e-mail].

This copyright applies to all text and images herein, except for images used from other sources (noted in Image Credits).

First edition: 2019

ISBN: 978-0-620-84389-8

Edited by Fatima Asmal ([e-mail])

Yacoob Manjoo asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

The message behind the words is the voice of the heart.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Contents

Preface

Journeying through Life

A Bird’s Eye View

World View

One Year On

Rise

Worldly Purpose

In Memory of U(CT)

Out of Place

The Balance

Rooftops

You Suck!

Remembrance

28

Mash

The Succession of Precious Pursuits

Sunrise in Paradise

Train of Thought

A Most Blessed Rooftop

Winter Sun

Memories of a Past Life

Stolen Moments

God’s Light Show

Peace

Call Out to Him

Thoughts at 37,000 Feet

Window of Peace: an Ode to the Holidaze

Powerless

A Song of Spring

The Quest…and what came after

The Life to Come

Reliance

Dedication

Childhood

One Year Ago

Ponderances of an Expectant Father

Welcome to the World

She Flaps

The Longest Year of my Life…and other reflections

For Toddles

Second Time Around

Summer Daze

Three Stars

Reflections

The Final Goodbye

When Death Talks to You

Living in the Past…Hoping for the Future

Halfway to Seventy

Vicissitudes of Life

Half and Half

Future Plans

Under Pressure

The Journey of a Lifetime

Try

Overload

Dissolved Dreams and Personal Evolution

Acknowledgements

Image Credits

About the Author

Preface

From an early age, I loved reading. It was my favourite pastime: the thrill of delving into other worlds…the words on a page coming to life. Naturally, this progressed to an affinity for creative writing. Teachers would compliment my work and encourage me to write outside of school. Though I appreciated those kind words, I didn’t see myself pursuing it as a career. I believed that a writer’s livelihood depended on inspiration and creativity – gifts which I couldn’t take for granted. So, at the age of seven, the threat of writer’s block killed what may have become a career in writing.

Creativity, and the love of reading and writing, later withered away, as I grew, and futile adolescent obsessions consumed me. I wrote only when forced – dull and uninspired school assignments.

This trend continued into university, until a personal turning point changed my life forever. It also served as a catalyst for my introspective side to resurface – putting me on a path of self-expression: a state of being where I was free to let loose what I held inside. Encouraged by a writer friend, this creative rebirth spawned poetry. I was amazed at how these expressions needed no thought. They just came to me…they flowed through me, onto the page. It was all so easy: the words, the sentence construction, the metaphors and similes… everything…everything was just there. My feelings, thoughts, dreams, fears…it all poured out of me, cathartically. I didn’t stop to edit. I didn’t let my left-brain tendencies stifle the creative process. I just let loose whatever needed to be released.

My words found a public home on the blog I started, and as the writer inside me grew in confidence, I became more willing to share my inner self with others.

The collection before you serves as a creative timeline – bringing together my most significant written expressions from my twenties and thirties. Most have appeared on the blog, although some previously-unpublished works are also included.

The book is divided into three sections:

Poetic outpourings on life’s journey

The quest for love and marriage, and what came after

Reflections on life

I hope that you enjoy the contents of this book and take benefit from it.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Yacoob

2019

1. Journeying through life

A Bird’s Eye View

While the world goes on below,

I am free,

I am calm.

A place so far from it all –

yet close enough to reach in minutes.

On this day, I am thankful

for the absolute beauty.

That I am able to experience this, in my life.

In the sky, almost…clouds so close,

the warmth of the sun,

on this otherwise chilly summer’s day.

I see the ocean on one side,

the mountains bordering it.

The bay on the other:

foamy white waves,

crashing on the shore –

  So lively down there,

  yet so still from where I sit.

Perched up here,

the starlings stopping by on occasion.

I’m in their territory now:

a place high up,

where the beauty of creation can be seen.

The world below stretches out,

but I look not at it,

for down there is activity:

busy-ness and business;

running around; rushing here and there.

Work to do, people to call,

places to be.

I revel in this break –

this window of solitude.

A peaceful existence up here…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on Earth, however,

life goes on as usual.

And though my window is shut again,

for now,

I am content with my secret perch, my safe-haven…

for up there, I don’t need anything.

I don’t need anyone.

It’s just me, the sky, the occasional bird,

and my Creator.

So rare, nowadays, are moments like these:

    a time to stop.

    a time to be free:

      free of my world,

      free of my usual reality.

A new world. A new vision.

Lying with one eye covered,

I’m almost floating in the clouds:

engulfed in blue and white;

no longer constrained

by the physical limits down below:

    no buildings, no trees,

    no electricity,

    no concerns to capture my time.

I am free of all that.

I am free of the world.

It’s serene – being detached from it all;

up where there’s nothing but fresh air…

no desperation,

no deception,

no temptation…

just here and now.

    Nothing else matters.

    Just here and now.

    I could die now…leave my life behind,

    because this is peace.

My Blessed place.

Which I hope to never lose…

Date written: October 2006

World View

Keep the world at bay.

Don’t turn on the radio.

Keep yourself away

from the propaganda-filled programming

that settles in your home via the TV.

Reject their news media.

Their sensationalism.

Their obsession.

Their unhealthy fascination.

Be free of their poison.

They feed it to you:

slowly…constantly…unrelentingly.

Headlines; top stories this hour;

chart shows; advertising -

        the right to choose –

the right to choose

what they make available to you:

This week’s ‘must-have’ DVD;

Dress like the stars;

Live the high life…

    Winners know when to stop.

    "Enjoy it responsibly!"

Keep your (de)vices of shame and addiction.

I don’t need your modern-day idolatry:

your disease of celebrity obsession;

your hedonistic pursuits

of all that delights the senses –

yet suffocates the soul.

I reject your ideas.

Your way of life.

Your deen*.

I may be flawed and faulty –

but I’m on the right path.

I don’t drink from your poisoned cup;

I don’t breathe your polluted air.

I exist. I live – hard as it is –

in my own vacuum, with my own boundaries, and my own border control.

Stew in the world if you want.

I choose something else.

I choose my own world.

Date written: December 2006

* Deen is an Arabic word meaning way of life. Islam is often referred to as such – being far more comprehensive than just a ‘religion’, but an actual way of life encompassing all aspects of our existence.

One Year On

One year on

…and back in this meeting room.

Same subject, different people.

People spend ages at this place:

          years, decades,

          some even a quarter of a century (and more).

There’s stability in the workings here:

          exam times; orientation; start of the year; summer school –

each year, the process – the events – remain the same;

yet the faces change.

Every three or four years, a generation leaves:

graduates, completing their metamorphosis;

matric caterpillars now grown to fledgling butterflies,

ready to spread their wings.

Out there, in the world, they’ll find themselves

away from the comfort of being with their own kind – their generation.

Not quite dust in the wind, but they are to be dispersed

among the grown-ups.

Some will remain here: honours, master’s, further studies.

Delaying the inevitable migration from the cocoon.

Others will prolong the stay further: studying here, to working here –

never leaving the comforts of their palace on the hill;

this prestigious palace of knowledge and academic excellence.

Would I remain content to stay in this zone of comfort?

The job stability, the people, the comfort of annual repetition;

the beauty all around, as well as the beautiful people –

many of whom I must strive to avoid,

for a glance can be a poisoned arrow of the devil;

and what the eyes enjoy, the heart desires.

The abundance of the young