The dedication at the beginning of Seven Pillars of Wisdom leaves the reader wanting more. Here it is!
I drew these tides of men into my hands
And wrote my will across the sky in stars;
Yet though I fought your tribes in desert sands
It was my love that left me battle-scarred.
I was a spy and planned to build your tomb
When first I came to re-define your land;
But with your kiss the desert flower found bloom
Whilst I drew these tides of men into my hands.
I fought for peace, that much I know is true
And for that end I dined with kings and Shahs.
But when all seemed mirage, it was for you
I wrote my will across the sky in stars.
That final night of love you weren’t afraid
You gave your body yet blocked my demands.
I rose at dawn and fasted, cried, and prayed,
Before I fought your tribes in desert sands
I gave my all yet Allah spared my life
But your death cut me open like a shard
For though I felt the pain of gun and knife
It was your love that left me battle-scarred.
Contraband Marriage, traveling along the hemline of loving after incarceration, is a love story written in lyric and free form, set in reality with a different ever after.
The songs and art in this book are about our collective emergence after the pandemic and trauma of the last few years - comprised of 5 collections: World as Refuge, Where We Live, In Our Hands, Rhythms of Change and What We See & Sow.