Door Holder

There is more to this life

Than mere human being,

You were the one who taught me that.

O Child,

When I held you,

I saw visions of the pain and strength,

You’ll go through–

And glimpses of warmth,

You will bring.

You taught a man who thought he lost it all

That he has more to give.

You are abundance,

The gift that keeps on giving,

Such Sweetness,

And I am changed.

~

Child,

There will be so much pain ahead,

It is written in the skies.

Listen to these words

And carry them deep within.

What you set your mind,

Heart,

And soul to,

You will achieve it.

(Corpus)

Door holder is one of my more tender poems, and it has to do with experiences surrounding Kawthar. A young girl who I taught swimming who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) during one of my teaching sessions. At the time, I was a Type One Diabetic for around six years at the time, I saw it as my personal duty to help Kawthar out. So I did, I gave her this JDRF (now breakthroughT1D) teddy bear I had. So that Kawthar would remember that she is never truly alone in her struggles with T1D.

That experience taught me a lot, and I feel like it kickstarted a lot of my personal journey, as I was deep in my struggles at the time, “Who thought he lost it all.” and the experience with Kawthar allowed me to see the goodness within myself “That he has more to give.” 

Kawthar is given two attributed poems, the namesake poem belongs to the Embers in the Stream collection, which provides a more spiritual account of the first meeting. And Door Holder, which belongs to a miscellaneous collection Corpus. Door Holder was written after running into Kawthar and her Mom after two years, named after Kawthar holding open a door for me (much like she did during the first encounter). The ending stanza mirrors the last thing I told Kawthar, something which was left unsaid during the first encounter. Wherever she is, I hope she is doing well.