My thoughts about the Rain:

The Rivers of the Street!!!

When it rains, it pours, as the torrential bathing of New York, keeps us wet & cold.
Winds direct this Rain, to every corner, block & sidewalk; it just does what it’s told.

The day-long down-pour, from the Sky, funnels down avenues & alleyways.
The Storm-Clouds are gray, thick & heavy, with Water; there are no Sun-rays.

At every corner, there’s a junction of the Rivers of the Street.
Storm drains are where all these mighty concrete Rapids meet.

The homeless dwellers, of our underground city, use these rains, to shower.
They only get one chance to get clean; sometimes it rains less than an hour.

For them, these Rains represent hope, that Allah has not abandoned nor forgotten them.
They just take what they can get; it’s nothing to us; to them, the Rain is a precious gem.

So, the next time that we complain, about the Rain, we ought to be more grateful.
This Water, from the Sky, nourishes the Earth, making plants grow big & fruitful.

The next time we get drenched, we should think about our poor, homeless counterparts.
We don’t care how it feels, being at the bottom of the barrel; it doesn’t affect our hearts.

They’re the homeless, living in Train Stations & Sewers; they wait & hope for the Rain.
We ignore them, without realizing that they’re those whose only lifeline is a Storm drain.

Gareth Bryant/2009

My thoughts on Tabassum Rahman!!!

Author’s Note:
This post is a poem is about a dear friend of mine, Tabassum Rahman, a standing member of New York University’s Islamic Center, as well as a recent NYU graduate this year. To put it plainly, she’s great-She jumps out the window, to be of help & service for other people. And, she never complains about work or shirks her responsibilities. She’s always positive, motivating, and inspiring. This poem is in celebration of her, as my Muslim sister, in Islam, as my friend, and as an A-Class Human being.

Tabassum, the awesome!!!

You truly live up to your name.
Never shady, always the same.

When you smile, it’s like fireworks, in the night sky.

Your great name means joyfulness, in the language of Arabic.
There is only one way that I can fairly describe you: fantastic.

You’re so very pleasant to others, always displaying goodwill.
You’re the last one to complain & you’re the first one to chill.

You do everything for everyone else, never asking why.

Tabassum is from the verb Basama, meaning “to smile”.
Your sense of service & duty is just as long as the Nile.

You’re a great friend to all who know you and trust you.
When you enter a room, you give the old a sense of new.

The thought of you not being around makes me wanna cry.

So subtle is your approach, yet how dynamic your results.
We’ll always keep you in our hearts, our emotional vaults.

It doesn’t matter where you go next, or who you may be.
We’ll all always care, love, and remember you at the IC.

Gareth Bryant/2012

Donate to the AFSP: Out of the Darkness Anti-Suicide Walk 2012:

Salam/Hello!!!

I’m going to be participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Overnight Anti-Suicide Walk again, in the San Fransisco Bay Area, on the 9th. & 10th. of June, 2012. It would be great if you all could join me in this walk. But, if you’re not able to, at least donate online to my profile donation page, or tell others about this event. Suicide is a very serious issue that is a growing problem in the U.S., especially among our youth. Please, support me, in my efforts, to promote Suicide-Awareness & Suicide-Prevention. I’m trying to use my participation in this walk as a platform, to promote activism within my respective Muslim-Community, because unfortunately, Muslims are not given a lot of press, when we do partake in noble causes such as this one. Rather, we’re almost always portrayed negatively in the media. So, basically, it’s my intention to be a representative of the Muslim-Community at this walk, but I need help to raise as much money as I possibly can between now & June.

This is the link where you can go to to register for the walk with me and/or donate:

http://www.theovernight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=501&participantID=5925

Thanks in advance,

Gareth Bryant

Oppression is wretched!!!

It is something that will taint your soul.
You’ll never reach Paradise, our goal.

Tyranny is something that which Allah has banned for Himself.
Yet, we have the audacity to strip the creation of their wealth.

This wealth is priceless: they are our lives, properties & honor.
Violating, taking these things from others is an action of terror.

As Human beings, we are haters-by-nature.
Envy is a poison, causing us to be immature.

Our hearts are corrupt, black & filthy.
Oppression makes all our deeds petty.

We must ask Allah to remove us all from the path of the dreaded & cursed Shaytan.
Or else, in the Hereafter, we’ll remain in the darkness and will not see another dawn.

Gareth Bryant/2012

A Mother’s-Day alternative: The undisputed status of the Mother in Islam!!!

Author’s note:
Every year, year, after year, this holiday, known as “Mother’s-Day” is celebrated all around the world, fueling the economy of every country which profits from chocolates, flowers, and cheesy Hallmark cards, that could’ve easily been made by a five year old, but are being sold & bought, hand-over-fist. I have decided to elaborate not on the holiday, or why Islamically, it’s not necessary to just show your mother you actually value her, just one day out of a whole year. But, as a Muslim, I think that it’s crucially important for people to know the value that Allah has given the Human female, particularly, the Human mother, that’s what this post is about.

The status of a mother, in Islam, is by far the most honored position in life. The reason why I dare to say this is because the woman, just as a Human being, plays such a dynamic role in societies; and, by being a mother, her role is that much more enhanced-Mothers are the backbones of families, communities, societies, and nations…point blank.

This is very evident, when Allah mentions the divine obligation, to respect the wombs, our mothers, the women whom we all were blessed to be protected & sheltered in, from the day of our conceptions until the day of our births.(Noble Qur’an: Chpt.4, V.1) In fact, the Arabic name for womb is “رحم” (in transliteration, it’s pronounced as Rahm). This word is commonly translated as womb, or kinship/family-ties, and it does mean all of those things. However, what the true essential meaning of this word is a place where mercy resides. And, that’s exactly what the womb of the female is: It is a place where a child, in the developing stages one’s mundane existence, finds protection, from the outside world, from disease, and is endowed with both divine, as well as maternal mercy, care, love, tolerance & compassion.

This is something very necessary to reflect upon, especially for men, who will never, under normal biological standards, established by Allah, have to deal with the responsibility of carrying a life within themselves. It is truly a most noble task, for the woman to be the carrier of us all, into the realm of the Mundane. Unfortunately, when we evolve, from whining lil’ babies into “Men”, we forget the people in our lives, whom Allah had made responsible for our safety & well-being, when we were younger. And, most of the time, those people are our mothers.

Now, don’t get me wrong, here, fathers definitely do play a most important role, no doubt; we, as men & as fathers, have the heavy task of being the head-of-household, which is no easy task at all-We’re responsible for everybody, even the family-pet. But, to just be fair, fathers just don’t sacrifice as much as mothers do, unless of course they may be single fathers. In most cases, when it comes to children, the mothers are left with the brunt of the responsibility, and this has been proven historically, and is still being proven contemporarily.

One of the many proofs that women sacrifice more than men is just from a biological standpoint of view: Men don’t get overweight, women do, as a result of carry the baby, or babies, in the cases of twins, triplets, etc. Also, women, when it comes to giving birth itself, it’s like they’re on their potential death-beds. It is very easy for women to die, while giving childbirth, even in an industrialized,  modernized, developed country, like the United States of America, for example.

And, this is exactly why the Prophet (Peace be upon him), when asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah!!!
Whom is most worthy to be in my company?”, he said, “Your mother”. the companion who asked the initial question (May Allah be pleased with him), asked him the same question two more times, and Muhammad (Peace be upon him) give the same answer, two more times. Then, he asked, “Well, who’s next (meaning who’s next in line to be most worthy to be in his company)”, then Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said, “Your father.”.(al-Bukhari)

So, it is very easy to see, from the classic Islamic perspective, how Allah has honored the mothers of Human beings. Even the societies that we live in are based upon the good treatment of women. I mean, realistically, you can’t have a healthy, sophisticated, functional nation, without a healthy, sophisticated, functional society. And, you can’t have a healthy, sophisticated, functional society, without a healthy, sophisticated, functional family, and the woman is the foundation of a family, in all reality.

Now, if the foundation of anything is compromised, then, anything or everything that is built upon it will not be strong. Likewise, if the woman is not well taken care of, then our families, societies & nations are doomed to fail. I mean, it’s no wonder why the Arabic word “أمّة” (pronounced Ummah, which means community, society, nation) is linguistically derived, directly, from the Arabic word “أمّ” (pronounced Umm, which means mother). Now, with that being said, I hope that I’ve made it clear how important women are, must be & should be, to us all.

Integrity is sacred!!!

Author’s note:
The following post is the result of a Muslim, who knows me personally, who has recently deemed it okay to violate the sanctity of our religious-bond, by slandering me, by accusing me of being a Homosexual, something that’s considered a Major-Sin, according to classic Islamic-Texts. Let me first clear the air to all those who may read this: I am not a Homosexual, I’ve never have been. Now, if this is not good enough for some people out there, well, then, that’s your problem. I am a Muslim, and I am a Human being. Those who know me know who I am & how I live. So, for me to even have to jump out of the window, in order to clarify something that someone has viciously said about me, to purposely tarnish my Islamic social-standing, is really cruel. Anyway, I’ll get back to that in a while. Now, I intend to explore more of the Islamic spin on the subject of Slander.

Allah says in the Qur’an, “Oh, you who believe!!! Revere Allah, and speak a straight word (i.e. speak honestly/speak the truth).”.(Noble Qur’an: Chpt.33, V.70) This means that as Muslims, we are divinely obligated, by Allah, the Lord of the Universe, to always speak honestly, never to speak crooked speech, to never lie. Then, Allah also says, “Oh, you who believe!!! If a sinner brings you news, verify. It may be that you allow harm to befall a people out of ignorance, and be regretful of what you’ve done.” (Noble Qur’an: Chpt.49, V.6) Now, unfortunately, most Muslims think that this particular verse only applies to Non-Muslims, but, it applies to all Human beings, regardless to whether one is a Muslim or not, because of the statement of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), “All of the Children of Adam are sinners; yet, the best of the Sinners are those who seek repentance.”.(Ahmad)

And, since all Human beings are sinful by nature, it becomes necessary to verify all that we say & claim. After all, it is the Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself, who has said, “If people were allowed to make baseless-claims, they would take the lives & wealth of others indiscriminately. However, the clarity is upon the claimant, otherwise they must take an oath.”.(An-Nawawi) This statement makes it very clear, that we are not allowed to just say things without them being truthful. We are obligated to have all that we claim to be honest, as well as verifiable. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has also said, “The life, property & integrity of a Muslim is sacred.”.(An-Nawawi) This obviously means that no one has the right to take your life, property, or ruin your reputation, unless there is an Islamically justifiable reason to do so, and in almost all cases, you have to dig pretty damn deep, in order to find any Islamic justification to take someone’s life, property, or destroy their reputation; and, even the lives, properties & integrity of Non-Muslims are protected under Islamic-Law.

With Slander, specifically, it’s very honestly a form of oppression, and Allah has stated, based upon what Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has told us, “Oh, My Property!!! Verily, I have made oppression unlawful upon Myself, as well as between you. So, do not oppress one another!!!”.(An-Nawawi) Now, let’s think about this very carefully: Allah is the undisputed, Eternal-Creator of the entire Universe. By definition & default, He really has the right to do with us whatever He wants, without question or accountability. But, out of His eternal sense of justice, He has taken steps to not cross boundaries, which He has imposed upon Himself. Now, that is truly amazing!!! Alas, sadly, we cross the same exact boundaries that the Lord of the Universe has placed upon himself, which is the boundary which separates us from oppression; now, isn’t that hella ironic?!!!

Now, we can get straight into Slander:

The Islamic definition of Slander is the following: To say something, about someone, that is either known to be false, or that cannot be proven, exclusively to make a person look negative in public. This definition of Slander is directly derived from two chapters of the Qur’an, Surat-ul-Humazah (The Chapter of Slander) & Suratu-Yusuf (The Chapter of Joseph), which details the slander of Prophet Joseph (Peace be upon him), while he was in Egypt, in the household of an Ancient-Egyptian official, whose wife accused him of trying to rape her, and our mother `A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her), when she was accused of adultery, by the leader of the Hypocrites in the city of Al-Madinah, during the lifetime of Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The Islamic definition of Hypocrites, by the way, are people who only pretend to be Muslims, for various alternative reasons; but, in reality, they do not truly believe that Islam is true guidance.(Noble Qur’an: Chpt.63, V.1-8) During the lifetime of Joseph (Peace be upon him), his life was literally in danger, he was on the verge of being executed, and all because of a lie, and so was our mother, `A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her). Had Allah not allowed the truth of their affairs to be exposed, then, both of them would have perished unjustly, just because someone thought that it was amusing to slander a Prophet & slander the wife of a Prophet.

This is how dangerous Slander truly is: Not only do you ruin peoples’ lives, here in this Mundane, but also, your slander could very well be the reason why they never get married, never get a good job, acquire problems with family-members, neighbors, etc. You can also play a severe part in endangering the welfare and/or lives of those whom you so choose to slander-It’s a really big deal, whenever a person commits one’s self to say something about someone, which is not true, cannot be proven, and/or, in most cases, both. Also, in the hereafter, those who slander will not only be stripped of a specific amount of their own good actions, which are given to those whom they’ve slandered, they’ll also be compelled to take the negative actions of those whom they’ve slandered from their record. And, they’ll be questioned by Allah, concerning whatever you’ve slandered a person about, just as though they’ve actually done those specific actions themselves…WHAT A WAY TO FAIL!!!

Okay, now…it’s time for me to switch to my Nigga-Shit:

I know exactly why this particular person would even want to slander me. I mean, obviously, it’s not Islamically correct. But, I can actually see, in hindsight, why someone, particularly & especially a Muslim, would ever want to slander me, with the accusation of Homosexuality, no less.

This is how I can perceive the scenario-

This particular sister was throwin’ the pussy at me, and I either didn’t take notice to her, or completely, purposely, refused to entertain her advances, because one, I’m a Muslim, who’s actually tryin’ to do shit right, for a change. Then, two, she’s probably less than a 7, on a scale of 0-10, which means that she’s no way in my type-range, of women I’m sexually-attracted to, anyway. Now, with that being said, it’s obvious that the Devil convinced her, via his seductive whispering, to cause chaos & corruption, by slandering the known good-name of a fellow Muslim. And, to add insult-to-injury, it wasn’t just me, who’s character that she had attacked. This broad has also tarnished the good-name of a Muslims sister, as well.

Here’s how that went down-

I get a call, from a sister, whom I know. She tells me straight up, without hesitation that someone has been talkin’ mad shit about me. She basically revealed to me, that this sister who had slandered me, that she had asked whether I had holla’d at her. When the sister, who told me this story, said that I didn’t try to holla at her, this sister, who slandered me, then said, “Oh, yeah!!! He’s Gay.”. Now, when hearing this story, I realized something important, she wasn’t just attacking my religious/personal-integrity, she was also attacking the religious/personal-integrity of the sister whom she had asked about me. Basically, in the mind & heart of the one who’s the slanderer, it’s goin’ a lil’ somethin’ like this’, “Wow, if Gareth hasn’t holla’d at this girl, then, he must be Gay, because everybody knows that this girl is easy & loose.”. This is exactly what I was able to extrapolate from this story which was shared to me.

Now, here comes the pain-

Whoever you are, slandering me, or anyone else, I strongly advise you to fear the displeasure of Allah, make repentance, privately & publicly, and never set your feet upon that evil path again. And, you had better do that really soon, because I have my eyes & ears to the ground, looking for you, and you had better pray to Allah that you seek forgiveness & seek repentance, both publicly & privately, before I find out who you are; you’re officially on my shit-list, and for the record, you have to be a real douche-bag, in order to make it to that list. There’s a powerful proverb in Mongolian, which is the following, “Do not scorn a weak cub. He may become the brutal tiger.”. I usually try my very best to be the cool-guy. But, now, I see that I have to revert to bein’ a Nigga bout mines. And, honestly, that’s fine with me, if you wanna play dirty, hell…I invented playin’-dirty. Now, you’ve really fucked-up, because you’ve taken my good-nature for weakness, as though I’m a weak cub. You’ve made a big mistake. I’m Muslim, first. But, then, after that, I’m a Real-Nigga, and a Real-Nigga is gonna do whatever a Real-Nigga’s gotta do, ya dig?!!!

Whoever you are, slandering me, you, and whatever clique you roll with, no matter whether they’re Muslim or not, male, or female, if I catch you, we’re gonna go to war, and whoever is down with you, spreading rumors about me, or any other Muslim, or any other people period, while you claim to be a Muslim, I’m comin’ for ya ass & their asses too. And, I’m not afraid, because one, I’m a Muslim, and I know that when I’m correct, Allah will always protect me. Two, I’m a grown-ass man, who doesn’t have the will, the want, the care or the time, for any bullshit like this. Three, I’m just too old, to have to defend myself, against bullshit-gossip, that only does harm & not good.

Congratulations, whoever you are, because now, you’ve voluntarily enter the Lion’s-Den, and there’s only one way in & no way out. And, guess what?!!! I’m the hungry Lion, who hasn’t been fed in months, with the sharpest claws & teeth on the planet, and it’s lunchtime, and you’re on the menu. You’re like a Zebra, and I’m on the prowl, hungry for blood.

You betta watch ya ass, because I always catch my prey.
Just like Kevin Hart said, “You goin’ to learn, today!!!”

My Cocoon-Diaries Part III:

Author’s note:

My Cocoon-Diaries are poems and/or general writings which contain self-reflections for me, how I’ve been living & how I should’ve not been living, over a significant portion of time that I’ve taken to limit my social-spheres & social-interactions. It’s been a time for me to dig deep within myself, to wrap myself up in an anti-social cocoon, to find any & all problems within myself, in order to fix them, with the help of Allah, of course. I know that a lot of people thought it strange of me to just take some steps back from my social-spheres & place limits on my general social-interaction. But, this has been a necessary move on my part, to figure out what exactly is wrong with me, as a Muslim, so that I can further tread the path of guidance, which is Islam, with as little personal obstacles in my path as Humanly possible. This is my final installment of these posts of isolation & self-reflection.

This is my journey…

…please, join me:

The Springtime has arrived. Yet, unlike the new flowers in bloom, I’ve still not sprung up from the ground of obscurity. With my mission not yet complete, I still feel the need to press onward, to keep going forward with this journey, as long as it takes. I have become stronger, yet, still yearning for more to improve upon. However, I’m not sure whether I should stop where I am though. I mean, it’s been a pretty lengthy amount of time that I’ve been doing this. This particular season that has befallen us is representative of renewal & rejuvenation. It is my sincere hope that I can truly be one who has rejuvenated into someone who has evolved into someone a lot better than when I had initially started this journey.

If Allah wills, I will be successful at this self-reflective odyssey & get back on track. I have been wondering whether this had been the right decision, doing this all on my own, without really explaining to anyone why I wanted to do this so badly, or why I’ve even decided to do this at all, without even consulting someone else, to perhaps give me some support in all of this. I came to the conclusion that since no one (other than Allah, of course) really knows my problems better than I do, then, it’s only intelligent for me to seek out the solutions to my problems by myself & for myself. I know, it seems kind of selfish to think this way. But, in all reality, self-reflection at its core is a selfish thing: You have to look into yourself, define/redefine yourself, correct yourself, it ends up being all about you anyway.

So, in a since, this would be a positive type of selfishness, only because I yearn to grow & become better. All of my life, I’ve been doing things purposely, to define myself & to constantly, consistently, seek self-improvement. But, very few things that I’ve done actually achieved this desired goal. Becoming a Muslim, in fact, still remains the most important venture of self-discovery, self-definition & self-improvement that I’ve ever embarked upon in my life. Yet, even as a Muslim, there’s still so much that I’ve not tap into, from an Islamic academic perspective (i.e. religiously, I’m still ignorant as hell & need to learn so much more), from a character perspective, from a maturity perspective, and in regards to so many other perspectives, there’s just so much more in which I need to improve upon, for myself & my own self-development, that it’s very often frustrating, that I haven’t achieved that as yet. So, this has become an ample opportunity for me to take the time/make the time to step back and conceal myself, in order to achieve this goal that I’ve set for myself.

The Lifelong Road:

Never did I ever think that my odyssey to find myself would make me even more lost.

However, I must stay the course, find what I’m still looking for, regardless of the cost.

What I need to discover is more important than the pain of treading the road to find it.

Everything in life is hard; however, giving up makes nothing any easier.

It’s better to struggle and never win, than to settle for being the looser.

This world is like a puzzle & I must remove all of the pieces in my life which don’t fit.

This life is but a dense forest; yet, I must clear my own path.

And, it must be done right, to secure me from Allah’s wrath.

Gareth Bryant/2012

My random “Words of Wisdom”:

“You don’t have to spend a ‘King’s Ransom’, in order to look like royalty”

Gareth Bryant

The reason for me even bringing this up is because we all, at sometimes, or other times, waste so much money, trying to look like “a million bucks”, when we could actually spend a lot less, and get a lot more for our money. Don’t try to live beyond your means, for the “public-eye”, particularly when it comes to fashion. You can look great, without breaking your bank-Just approach shopping from a personal outlook, what looks good to you, what you like, as opposed to what others like. And, also, from a more realistic perspective, based upon what you can really afford.

My thoughts on the word “Nigger”:

Author’s note:
People, very often, have asked me why I’m so comfortable when the word “Nigger” being used around me. They just can’t understand, why an African-American would be so “not angry” when this particular word is used. I’ve honestly been thinking about this for a very long time, how to officially throw the word “Nigger” to the waste side, meaning take the power of meaning away from the word itself. Ironically, most people, especially African-Americans, really have no idea that the word “Nigger”, and the word Negro, for that matter, actually come from an actual words in Latin. The word “Nigger” is derived from the Latin word “Niger” (just like the name of the country, in Africa…yes), which literally means the color “Black”. The word “Negro” is derived from the Latin word “Negro”, which means “To blaken/To make black”. However, the connotative meanings of both these words are exclusively, historically, meant to degrade & dehumanize anyone who is either Non-White, or even Non-European. And, occasionally, this term was even used against other Whites, like how it was used to dehumanize the Irish, during the 19th century, as droves of Irish immigrants came from Ireland, as a result of the historically infamous “Potato-Famine”. The following poem is my way of expressing how this word does not describe me.

A Nigger, I am not:

There’s just no way that I could ever be someone’s Nigger.
Allah is my Creator, it’s He who fashioned my noble figure.

He’s made me a Human being, higher, brighter, and better than the rest.
He has chosen me to be ahead of all creation; my status is the very best.

Never am I lower than an animal; my existence has great value & is substantial.
I’ve been guided to Islam, the noble path of many; I carry a very heavy mantle.

Allah doesn’t favor people because of their ethnicities, colors, nor races.
It’s only through believing in Him & doing good will we attain His graces.

This word Nigger has kept so many people back, from truly elevating to their rightful stations.
They have, unfortunately, bought into the lies that they are nothing & have given justifications.

Self-belittlement must come to an end; we are the ones whom Allah has created, with His own hands.
He has molded the bodies of our parents, Adam and Eve, from all different types of the Earth’s lands.

He has given us something that no one can take from us, no matter what they do.
It’s called the Soul; I’ve been given one, directly from my Creator & so have you.

So, the next time that you have the urge, to use this hateful word, think about what you’re really saying.
You yearn to take someone’s Humanity, with the utterance of just a single word, it is spiritual maiming.

Gareth Bryant/2012

My thoughts on my own failures:

Maybe it’s me:

With each passing of years, my eyes begin to shed tears.
I cry, because of some of my most tragic & painful fears.

I’m in fear of dying without wife, nor child.
The thought of it just makes me very tense.

I’d much rather have an easier trial, that’s quite mild.
Alas, I’m being tested with this & it makes no sense.

I reminisce, as a young dude, runnin’ wild in the street, baggin’ shorites, with no sense of bein’ discrete.
When I was doin’ my thing, I was a legend, my style unmatched, and my swagger just couldn’t be beat.

But, since I’m tryin’ to do things that way, I’m stuck in a rut; defeat has been common-place today.
It’s like I have no finesses, when it comes to seeking out a spouse, as though I am complete astray.

Fail, after fail, it is so depressing and annoying; how long will this dark cloud over my head stay?
This has become a game that I just can’t win, because the rules are different for this type of play.

Back in my prime, when I was a wild-child, shorties just fell in my lap.
Now, it seems that I’m just washed-up, corny, a lame, a plain old sap.

So, now, I’ve thought about it & maybe it’s me who’s the problem.
It’s probable that I am the reason for my very own crash and burns.

It is very possible that this could very well be some chastisement from Allah.
I may just have to deal with this, as long as it takes; but my heart still churns.

It hurts so much, thinkin’ that you’re so close to someone then, Allah just rips them from ya life.
It just sucks that I’ve been down this road, so many times, yet still missing this most crucial exit.

It seems like there’s no end in sight, I am just destined to go through this strife.
I’ve become just like a dog chasin’ it’s tail, in a never-ending emotional matrix.

Gareth Bryant/2012