The world once seemed like a rose,
But now nothing remains but the thorn.
So, the afterlife's garden'll be my repose
And if that day never shows
Then curse the very day I was born.
Thomas Parker is a Muslim-American poet, writer and translator from Texas. He writes his own poetry in English as well as translating from Turkish and Arabic. He is the co-founder and poetry editor for the Bosphorus Review of Books and is currently at work on a debut novel.