Tuesday, October 03, 2006

A Poem To My Aunt

(My Aunt and I)
I forgave you for not telling me
When my father died,
I never let you know
How many tears I cried

By my own blood family
I was cruelly betrayed,
Even my husband and friends
Were thoroughly dismayed

You claimed you were respecting
The wishes of his wife,
By not letting me know he
Was at the end of his life

You admitted you were wrong,
And said you were confused,
The right to attend his funeral
I was refused

Now your daughter, my cousin
Has gotten engaged,
My desire to come to the
Wedding has you enraged

The thought of your Muslim niece
Coming to the Jewish service
Dressed in garb, wearing hijab
Has gotten you nervous

How would you explain it
To all of your friends?
If it offended them,
How could you make amends?

Concerned with appearances
and how it might look,
You removed my picture
From the family scrapbook

My conversion to Islam
You cannot accept
Far from the family fold
I have been kept

L’chaim to my cousin
On her wedding day
To keep the family peace,
I will stay away

5 comments:

luckyfatima said...

i'm sorry this happened 2 u. i have issues with my family as well, especially my dad. May Allah reward us for our perserverence and struggles.

Anonymous said...

Salam Alaikum: Wow, I understand how you feel. After reversion to Islam my dad never spoke to me again. We were not close to begin with, he left my mother with four children to support and never helped her but went to California, got married again and started a new family and forgot the old one. When my father died, I was not told by the new family. We found out about a year later by an aunt on my dad's side that lived in the area. He was jewish too. This was so sad to me, so I can feel your pain too. Plus Heather never got to truly know her grandfather from my dad's side. Love and Prayers, Sis Sakinah

Al-Hussain Arshad Yassin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
American Muslima Writer said...

masha'Allah what a beautiful way to express your hurt and anger in a well put poem. Have your family still been shunning you?

Safiyyah said...

Salaams AMW: My blood family, yes. My step-mom (dad's 2nd wife and kids) and her kids, no. Alhamdulillah for them. They're all I have.