[fortune cookie]

semi-poetic rambling about a sudden realization

i felt god that day.
in the most mundane of instances.

He tugged on my conscience.
His presence a constant companion, 
the ointment for my bruised heart.

bruised?

devastated by the world’s devastation,
paralysed by the people's panic,
everything is going
horribly,
horribly
wrong.
the world is going
downhill.

what will be left for the coming generation?
will there even be a next generation?

sinking attention spans, rising illiteracy,
egregious environmental damage, catastrophic climate change,
war and terror, all in the name of justice.

doomsday will arrive like a regular tuesday, won’t it?

which battle shall be fought first?
every detail of my day dedicated,
alternating battlefields and missions.
and the future of this world,
intertwined inexplicably
with this future of mine.

thoughts multiplying exponentially.
spiralling, trickling 
down
one 
after 
another.

rows upon rows of mental monsters.
ready to tear me down,
alternating their techniques,
amplifying their attacks
with my insecurities.

battles raging in the back of my mind
and then?

Subhan'Allah.

a reminder to look inwards, 
a reminder to never judge,
a reminder to be … better.

“there's always a piece of world to improve - yourself."

a piece of paper, hidden in a cookie,
a sentence wrapped as fortune.
blasphemous? 

so much more to this, 
a whole horizon hidden behind.
words that extend a lifeline,
solid ground under my stability-deprived soles.

“there's always a piece of world to improve - yourself."

my self-righteous gaze, 
the one that's directed outwards,
inhibits intrinsic growth.

that day i realized, 
change starts within. 

these monsters may never brighten the future,
but their counterparts might.
turning fears into hope and hope into my driving force,
driven to catalyze change.

a bruised heart may never wield stability,
whereas a hopeful heart might.

inner improvements channel outer change.

i felt god that day.
in the most mundane of instances.

sometimes all you need is a
fortune cookie.

so uh this is the fortune cookie.