Prayer Is Better Than Sleep

I saw you through the glass and paused to catch my breath at the sight:

The love of my life, my every worldly desire, a face that only a loving God could make 

I squeezed you so hard and wondered if you know how much I missed you

The full depth, breadth and width would be incomprehensible to you and really, it doesn’t matter because we are here now

We settled in and later we walked and my hand did not leave yours, just as I’d imagined, just as I’d planned, just as I’d dreamt

Your voice rang of comforting familiarity and our gaits fell into sync as if we’d never stopped walking alongside each other 

The Loop, The Bean and many other sites that were burned into my mind from our previous visit passed by quickly

Dinner at The Village was followed by a short walk back to the room,

once again hand-in-hand

More conversation followed and we soon laid down to drift off

But first, a kiss...and then another kiss followed by a rush of passion, love and lust as intense as any hurricane

Clothes came off followed by more kissing and touching until finally,

we were one and joined at the hips

It occurred to me that if there is anything better than you, I do not want it:

this is all the joy that any man can take

Sleep came soon after, but only in fits, as I knew it would. I was sleepy, but not ready to sleep

Too much time sleeping means less time being present with you and I have my priorities Assalatu khairum minan naum, I am reminded

I awoke before sunrise and when I opened my eyes, I saw that you, the prettiest girl in all of Chicago, was still next to me

You were facing away from me, buried deep in that duvet and your blonde hair was spilling out on to your pillow

And there I was, lucky me, laying next to perfection

In the morning call to prayer (called fajr), Muslims are enticed to wake up and pray because “prayer is more important than sleep,” or in Arabic, “assalatu khairum minan naum.”

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