POETRY
Acts of Kindness that Change Lives
It’s a hot summer of Ramadhan. My father brings food for us (wrapped in his big white handkerchief) from the mosque each evening, right on time to break our fast. Neighbors are unaware because he conceals it so well.
My mother breathes easy — “we’ll have something to eat today too,” she says, and sorts them with love. Makes it look like she’s prepared the spread at home: All types of fresh fruit pieces, yummy dates, and savories. Rose sherbet in small plastic bottles and glasses to quench our day-long thirst. Bread on alternate days.
Spicy rice and minced meat porridge (bubbling hot from a large iron wok) will be distributed too from the mosque. All are welcome, not just one community. This type of common food distribution is quite different from food being carried in concealed handkerchiefs. Yet, my father does it unwaveringly every day while returning from work for our stomachs to not go hungry and to hide the hurt pride of a poor family man.
People at the mosque are generous: Oblivious to the fact that this act of kindness is keeping a family together, that this act of kindness will change a girl’s life, that this act of kindness will be parroted by her once she grows up and earns enough!
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© A.H. Mehr — 2024
