Can you hug me before I awake
In pain, to clanking chains...

Al-istiqamah is proud to publish the second in a series of exclusive poems written by brother Daniel Joseph Maldonado on the loss of his wife in war-torn Somalia. Daniel was arrested by the Kenyan military in January 2007 and handed over the US authorities. His wife Tamekia died of malaria near the Kenyan-Somalian border. In April 2007 he pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in June.

Click here to view a scanned image of the original poem
Note: Please remember Daniel and his children in your dua's (supplications). Read Daniel's exclusive first-hand account of his arrest and imprisonment here.

'Stay With Me'

If I tell you I miss you
Kiss you and hug you
Hold you and told you I love you
Would you stay with me?
Or would you say goodbye?
Can you lay with me?
Will you stay the night?

Don't fade away from me
Please stay in sight
If this is make-believe
I'll pay the price
What must I do
So that I won't wake up?

So in love with you
My eyes want to stay shut
So in love with you
I just want to stay stuck
within this dream
So we can just stay us

If you can't
Can you please let me know
That you love me
before you leave and let me go?

Can you hug me
Before I awake in pain
To clanking chains
Crying while I say your name?

Eyes are flooded
Yet, I can see the dawn
Now that she is gone...
I awake...

Source: al-istiqamah.com