Ibrahim <br /> <br /> <br />Ibrahim was a shoemaker <br />in that Persian land afar <br />where wisest men practice crafts <br />in side-alleys without name <br />and teach with stories <br /> <br />One day, Ibrahim was overcome <br />by happiness beyond all belief <br />while the sun moved from there to here <br /> <br />He told his friend, who said <br />you look the same to me <br /> <br />He went to the doctor who said <br />we’d better keep an eye on that, <br />it might need an X-ray <br /> <br />He went to the priest who said <br />the Devil has cunning ways <br />to tempt with gifts <br /> <br />He went to the politician who said <br />it’s just a way to avoid <br />your social responsibility <br /> <br />He went to the psychiatrist who said <br />such delusions are uncommon but <br />not unknown come back next week <br /> <br />Ibrahim walked home <br />through the market and stallholders smiled <br />even though he bought nothing <br /> <br />a stray dog followed him home <br />his wife said you’re late for dinner <br />how lucky you are to have me for a wife <br /> <br />his children said <br />didn’t you bring anything home for us? <br /> <br />But here the story of Ibrahim <br />splits into many versions; <br /> <br />so you who know that bliss <br />which overcame our Ibrahim <br />must complete it for yourselves <br />to tell to your chlldren and <br />your children’s children <br /> <br />so that wise men smile, and angels laugh, <br />and poets pause, and storytellers <br />nod to themselves, while <br />they shape and tack their shoes, that <br />a storyteller carries on wise shoulders <br />a responsibility to human beings <br />greater than any king..<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ibrahim-s-tale/
