Maryam Says You Can Do It, Zaynab

As you lay on your belly and wonder
If you can just crawl to the end
Of the carpet so you can reach under
What covers your toy ducky friend,

Maryam says you can do it, Zaynab,
You can do it Zaynab, yes you can,
Just the way you did it the other day,
Got to finish this thing you began.

When you try hard to reach for the light switch
Standing tall on your tippy toes,
But it seems that it's always an inch away
No matter how high your hand goes,

Maryam says you can do it, Zaynab,
You can do it Zaynab, yes you can,
Just the way you did it the other day,
Got to finish this thing you began.

As you sit back for fun with Dick and Jane,
Touch the letters with your fingertips,
Trying hard to string them up just to bring
Forth a word with your weary lips.

Maryam says you can do it, Zaynab,
You can do it Zaynab, yes you can,
Just the way you did it the other day,
Got to finish this thing you began.

When you try out your bike with no trainers,
And you zigzag so fearfully,
'Cuz you can't bear the thought of the pavement
Kissing you in the head or the knee.

Maryam says you can do it, Zaynab,
You can do it Zaynab, yes you can,
Just the way you did it the other day,
Got to finish this thing you began.

And Maryam, you're right every time, now
You too may need Zaynab some day
Just to stand by your side helping you how
You help her to get on her way.

Zaynab says you can do it, Maryam,
You can do it Maryam, yes you can,
Just the way you did it the other day,
Got to finish this thing you began.

Got to finish this thing we began.

I was recently informed of being awarded second place for Highland Park Poetry's 2012 Poetry Challenge. The theme was Seasons/Siblings, and my entry, Children of the Year was judged in the Seasons category.

Familiar Friend

I saw a man the other day,
Somewhere in Bolingbrook,
Who curiously sent my way
A long and knowing look.

And I in turn stared back at him,
For surely I did see,
Deep in his eye, a trace of dim
Familiarity.

He looked away, a bit incensed
By my alacrity,
So I broke off my stare, but sensed
His gaze return to me.

We nursed this blend of sweet and sour
As we checked out our goods,
Before we left to make for our
Respective neighborhoods.

Of all the glimpses we did plot
So surreptitiously,
I won't forget that one I caught
Of him catch one of me.

I strained to think where we had met;
The library? The bank?
The traffic signal pause beset
By stares that weren't that blank?

I could have, and I should have asked,
But then it was too late
To see the face of chance unmasked
By helping hands of fate.

Or could it be that we have shared
A word that binds us both,
When in the Garden we declared
That sempiternal oath?

It is my hope that we will meet
In time or timeless end;
Until then, mine is patience sweet.
Farewell, familiar friend.