Publication Info: Blue Minaret Literary Magazine | October 2025
Description:
This poem documents my Friday commute to Jumu'ah prayer through Queens, New York, exploring how urban Muslim life transforms public transit into sacred space. The Q40 bus route becomes a spiritual pathway, where everyday journeys become acts of worship and city streets map the geography of faith.
Poetry collection in development exploring urban spirituality, family legacy, personal transformation, and community belonging through the lens of a Queens poet navigating faith and creative expression.
November rain, cold enough to ache in the knuckles,
and I passed the bodega awning on Jamaica Avenue
where three men stood smoking, dry and laughing.
I kept walking toward the F train stairs,
jacket soaked through at the shoulders,
hands shoved deep but still freezing.
My father was waiting at Sutphin Boulevard,
shift ended early for once.
I could've called, told him I'd catch the next one.
But I thought: let him see me come through the rain.
Let him see I kept my word when it cost something.
He stood under the station entrance, collar up,
watching each face come down the stairs.
When he saw me dripping, he just nodded once.