It was a weird day
The day of experience
The day I met him
The day I changed my outlook on life.

One day I heard a noise from a dark corner
“Think for yourself”
Is what I heard coming from the darkness
I was perplexed and curious.

I looked and looked but saw nothing
I kept my eyes wide open
I kept my ears focused
But no one emerged from the darkness.

I stood still on that spot
Too scared too move
Too confused too think
But knew I was safe.

I blinked and found myself in another room
I felt even more confused
Even more lost
Like never before.

“Don’t be scared”
Is what I heard from the shadows
I turned my head and saw no one
I couldn’t see anything but I could feel something.

Suddenly weird tribal like patterns started appearing
On the walls around me
Beautiful yet mysterious patterns
I couldn’t stop staring at them.

I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me
Couldn’t tell what was real and what was not
Didn’t know where I was and why
But knew I had to be here.

Felt a tap on my back
So I turned my head around
And saw an old man wearing a brown Berber cloak
He smiled at me and I smiled back.

I felt at ease in his presence
“Look deep and think hard throughout life young man”
Is what he told me with a wise and gentle voice
All of a sudden I knew where I was and why I was here.

Then not surprisingly, the old wise man disappeared
I can’t tell you why but I was in a peaceful state of mind
The surrounding darkness transformed into ever lasting light
For the first time, I actually felt like I was home.

Written by Tawfeeq Elahi Samad on the 1st of February 2009