Muhammad Shakoor

We share this letter from a stranger to John Fox:

I live in Dallas, Texas. I'm writing to you because I'd read one of your poems: "When Someone Deeply Listens to You" on a Public Transportation Bus (Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)). My fiancée and I have been having many deep discussions about life, religion, the spiritual and abstract reality of things, family, community life and many other different topics.

I was so moved by the words in your poem that I shared them with my fiancée. Your words in that poem are what I was going thorough before I met her, and I just want you to know that. Our Creator (God) created the human spirit as one that transcends everything so that we can relate to one another without even knowing the person, such as yourself.

"That Beloved Land That Seemed Distant." I truly love those words.

Thank You and Peace Be With You,

Muhammad Shakoor

When Someone Deeply Listens to You

When someone deeply listens to you it is like holding out a dented cup you've had since childhood

and watching it fill up with

cold, fresh water.

When it balances on top of the brim, you are understood.

When it overflows and touches your skin, you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you the room where you stay

starts a new life

and the place where you wrote your first poem

begins to glow in your mind's eye. It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you your bare feet are on the earth

and a beloved land that seemed distant is now at home within you.