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I yearn
I yearn
I hold you and touch you
I yearn
For our hearts to beat as one
I yearn
To feel your breath
and warmth against
mine I yearn.
But Lo!
There are barriers
Laws we both respect
Patient we have to be
Until
The final Fatihah
When the otherwise
Sinful becomes lawful
Oh!
How I look frontward
to that day
With great relish
When, Insha Allah
You’ll be mine
And I’ll be yours
When our two hearts
Will beat as one
When our actions
will centre towards
each other
For that day
I yearn
Armaya’u Umar Baba · 1993
EDITOR’S NOTE
Originally published in Citizen on 18 January 1993, p. 49. This diplomatic transcription preserves the wording and lineation verified against the archived page.