'ALA' 173 B.E.

A FAST
WORD
19 DAYS

13 WRITERS

19 ORIGINAL PIECES OF WRITING

A NINETEENMONTHS.COM PROJECT

MARCH 2017
 A FAST WORD 1

DAY ONE
TWO REASONS

There are two reasons

To recite the prayer:
Because your blood is boiling
Or because you want it to.

Nathan Davis
 A FAST WORD 2

DAY TWO

FEELING VELVET

Let the ink of my tongue walk where it sharing pleasurable steps alongside you,
pleases Let the nakedness of my truth be
you, wrapped with plush velvet blankets of
And the words of my face become Your
exactly how I sovereignty,
Feel for you, So I will rise without waking up today
Let the hesitations in my fingers feel calm So be all my days as I think of you.
with mention of Your name,
And the storm in every day stand Shadi Kafi
confidently

DAY THREE
REUNION
oh yes,
hello
hunger, you dark-haired girl
leading me to my backbone
guiding me barefoot
to the cold-tiled kitchen
where I remember
to not eat.
you point out
the things I forget
to see:
a drip at the sink
steam on oatmeal
crystals at the neck
of a maple jar.
it is unfair.
we make such fast friends
and yet,
where have you been
for so long?
what other kitchens
have you been haunting?
Caitlin Johnson Castelaz
A FAST WORD 3
DAY FOUR
UP AT 5:30
Up at 5:30before the rise of the
sun
Breakfast with the crew. This is
how its done.
Prayers with players at the start of
the day
Purify first thing. Let nothing stand
in our way
The vibe is different when
experienced with others
Thankful for friendship from this
band of brothers
Nap seems seductive. Yet Im not
ready to sleep
Got to be productive before
fatigue starts to creep
Even though outwardly the Fast is
difficult and toilsome,
yet inwardly it is bounty and
tranquility.*
When faced with tribulations my
blood does boil some
Today Ill find a way to proceed
with humility.
Gilbert Smith
* quote from Bahullh, The
Importance of Obligatory Prayer
and Fasting, XVI

DAY FIVE
WYANDOTTE
It was raining on the first day I fasted. It
wasnt a downpour, it was a mist, and the
sun hid above the clouds most of the day.
I can still hear my moms voice calling the
weather dreary as she drove through
Wyandotte on the way to pick up our
dinner. It was one of those situations
A FAST WORD 4
where, since it was my first fast-
breaking meal, I got to choose the
cuisine and selected cheap tacos
from a place across town.
On almost any other day, the smell of
greasy tacos would be considered
unpleasant, perhaps offensive. But as
the sun inched closer to the horizon,
the aroma from the hot bag of food
on my lap was so appetizing that it
kept my moms foot pressed firmly
 A FAST WORD 5

on the gas pedal, and my eyes shifting
constantly to the dashboard clock.
When the car smacked into us from the
next lane over, my first thought was,
How long is this gonna take? This
wasnt a life-threatening impact, mind
you, the neighboring vehicle simply
misjudged its clearance prior to changing
lanes. Our biggest concern wasnt the
damage to the front quarter panel, it was
the vacancy in our stomachs or the
dehydration in our mouths.
With our hazard lights blinking, rain
drops collecting on the windshield, and a
bag of tacos on my lap, I watched my
mother debating with the other driver
and a pair of bored policemen,
presumably determining fault in a
painfully minor car accident. I watched
the clock tick away the minutes, getting
closer and closer to that golden moment
when we would be permitted to eat once
again.
I told myself as I leaned back in my
chair and turned up the volume on
the car stereo.
Fifteen minutes after sundown, my
mom got into the drivers seat and
thanked me for waiting to eat. She
drove down the street and turned
into a lot, and parked in a spot
overlooking the river. Lets just eat
here, she said. I immediately had the
cartons of food open and on my lap,
ready to dig in. But my mom was
holding a prayer book.
With the sun long-gone, our windows
fogged up, and our food gone cold,
we prayed. With our car dented, our
stomachs empty, and our mouths dry,
we prayed. We closed the book and
felt full before we took our first bites.
Michael Hasan Castelaz

With a minute to spare, my moms door

popped open. Relief! I thought, only to
have my hope stamped out when my
mother grabbed her purse and slammed
the door as quickly as she had opened it.
I watched her return to the debate and
fumble through her purse, a sight that
quickly lost my attention as I turned back
to the clock and saw it blink over to a
minute past sundown.

I spread open the bag, looked inside at

the steamy take-out containers, and
promptly moved the whole thing to the
floor. I can wait a little while longer,"
 A FAST WORD 6

DAY SIX
MY MOTHERS HANDS

MY HANDS DO NOT YET LOOK LIKE MY MOTHERS HANDS

BUT THEY ARE STARTING TO MOVE IN THE SAME WAYS
AND EXPRESS THEMSELVES ON THEIR OWN.
WHEN I POUR COFFEE EARLY IN THE MORNING
MY HANDS CRADLE THE CUP
AND I VIEW THE SKYLINE OF MY HOME.
DAWN COMES IN LITTLE PIECES
THE TESTS COME IN WAVES
EACH CHASING THE OTHER.

SHOLEH SAMADANI MUNION

 A FAST WORD 7

in the fire. Now my spirit-soil bestirs

DAY SEVEN itself and is ready to act. Soil acts by
pushing up the new.
THE BEGINNING PURGE
*
A grand fire fills me on the first day of the
The next day: Im a few mouthfuls
Fast: the fire of hunger and of the
into my sunset quiche and already I
beginning purge. The headache comes,
miss the burnt-out feeling in my
too. The headache comes and it razes me
stomach and my chest. But Abdul-
to the ground. But now my soil lives, once
Bah says that we dont fast for the
again; the flames sweep through me, any
sake of feeling weakwe fast to
hope of a structured thought is gone, and
purify our souls. I feel close to death,
the old brush and weeds are burnt away
today;

perhaps its not that, perhaps I feel closer
to the spirit world.
* (theres none) to stumbling across
I find a photo of me with three friends.
The photo was taken in Santiago, just
now, in September; but already this is a
past thats slipping into myth. These
people; I actually knew these amazing
people. What right do I have to know
them? The future often seems to be a
time with a past from which its been
severed. One day I may lose these
friends; one day, I may lose myself, or the
world may lose us all. But the old legends
will live in this photo and for me itll be
true. The Fast is a time of raw wires and
open veins.
* adds that physically with care, after
My tongue tastes the car fumesmore
readily than on those long other days
when there is no fast. Theres nothing in
my mouth to distract from the taint of
the world; no coffee aftertaste, no
toothpaste, nothing. All the worlds taint
is dancing in the air like belly dancers at
the wrong end of a Marrakech souk. I try
to wipe my tongue on the roof of my
mouththis doesnt help. All this is a
reminder. We see more during the Fast;
we see the impurities, we try to spot our
own, while in the trap of those long other
months we mightve just seen a donut.
* choices can exist. How can his ideas
Today is more workaday; no big
headaches, no show-stopper emotions,
no parables about air pollution. But my
mind is wandering. Ive lost myself online
A FAST WORD 8
from looking for a family link
between the choreographer George
Faison and the actor Donald Faison
Rodrigo Alves. Let me tell you about
Alves. Hes Brazilian, he lives in
London, I live in London, and hes had
fifty plastic surgery procedures. Eight
nose jobs alone. Six-pack implants.
Lip inflations. All of it and more. Hes
called the human Ken Doll. Two
morning show presenters are
interviewing him, in this clip, and in
the shuffle of their looks I spot the
second they ask themselves how their
lives brought them to this moment.
Alves explains that his grandparents
left him assetsgiving him the
freedom to dedicate himself to
perfecting myself, physically. He
a comma even in his speech, a
deliberate point of emphasis; perhaps
he felt the need to pin himself to his
version of perfect. Whod sleep with a
human Ken Doll? How do you look for
the soul of a man who insists on
wearing neon-blue contacts over his
eyes? And I spin around within myself,
on that question of perfection,
thinking of Abdul-Bah. Were asked,
during the Fast, to move away from
our physical selves; and now Im
faced with a man for whom there is
nothing but the physical self. I feel so
far away. Hes in London, so am I; but
I feel far away, I hardly believe his
break open and take root? And then I
see it: the Fast is also a time to see
the world as an alien place. A
xenomorph is punching through from
our insides, our lower selves; now its
 A FAST WORD 9

out, now its everywhere, its destroying

us all. And its us. I guess thats why the
first Alien is so riveting and enduring: its
DAY NINE
UNFAILING AVAILABILITY
because we know the truth. Alien isnt a
story about space monsters; its about
Loose, long sleeves owning curled
our own hearts. Man is at the last degree
folds over chilly fingers.
of darkness, and at the beginning of
Rosewater aroma in the grand piano
lightand all of us live in that dawn-land
room spreading echoes of the French
between the end and the beginning.
national anthem into high ceilings.
None of us is home. Nowhere is home,
Persian calligraphy over freshly
not under these rules; only in this
painted walls singing gratitude in
moment can we make a home, around us,
bold black breath strokes.
in our loves, in our acts, in the too-short
Peekaboo tangerine sunrise kissing
days of the Fast.
eyes in repetition while cold toes
sleep in lazy beach sand.
Saleem Vaillancourt
Touching, Smelling, Seeing, Feeling
Your Unfailing Availability in daily life.
DAY EIGHT How can I be as unfailingly available
for You?
DISTAFF
Shadi Kafi
International Womens Day
And I think of Zaynab
History will have much to say
Of this heroic follower of the Bab
How can I sit on my couch and prattle
When my spiritual ancestors gave
their lives in battle?
Tahirih was strangled and thrown
into a well
Martyred poetess society could not
quell
Herald of the Covenant from the City
I live in
Long road to gender equality, but we
can never give in
Someday well see fruit. Tahirih took
off her veil
Let us teach like Martha Root. Justice
will prevail.

Gilbert Smith
 A FAST WORD 10

DAY TEN
19 THANKS

Darkness in the sky

My time is now
Heavy head
Light heart
Shut eyes
Birds singing to the Master
I too join in song
Difference,
They never forget where blessings
come
Not for a moment
This mind, effort needed
Focused attention
Special time to offer extra thanks
19 Thanks

Tiffany Gorman

DAY ELEVEN
THE MORNING DANCE
The hour before daylight: when the
world is rising for an early shift, rushing
for the first train, raging at the snooze
button, spooning, bowls of cereal; I
dance.
I dance through my door and across the
hallway. I clock a partner.
We begin our routine: one-two-three,
behind-side-front, traverse the space,
change places.
Timing is importantif you dont dance
in time with the music, the performance
is painful; if you dont dance in sync
with the other dancer(s), the beauty is
lost.
A FAST WORD 11
Now Im standing stage left: my dance
partner is stage right. Colours are
whirling in a way that can only be
healthy: the purple of frozen
blueberries, an avocado green, a flash of
carrot orange, spin into oneness.
Intense energy is required for 6 counts.
I step backwards like a catpas de chat
and my partner side-steps to fill my
place, and more colours whirl.
The 6 counts are up and we break into a
running step, making sure to keep in
time. If the timing is wrong, the dance is
offlike a hard-boiled egg that you
wanted to be soft.
But the timing was right, the dance is
done, and the sun is rising.
Layli Foroudi
 A FAST WORD 12

DAY TWELVE
DST
A new beginning
A fresh start
Moved the clock forward
Goals need winning
Daylight savings time
Time for a change of heart
Time to put away the untoward
Find a fresh clime
An hour lost
Opportunity gained
In the middle of the night
There would be a cost
Time moved ahead
If old ways remained
Nows the time to get things right
Must first get out of bed
Gilbert Smith
 A FAST WORD 13

DAY THIRTEEN
LEEMOO SHIRIN

TINY TEACUP RATTLES IN SHORT BEATS OVER HER SAUCER PLATE.

WATER KETTLE BOILS FEROCIOUSLY NEXT TO HER NEEDING TO

POUR ITSELF OVER THE EDGE.

WATER CALMINGLY COOLS STEAM AIR RELIEVING HERSELF INTO

THE PORCELAIN.

FIRST HOT SIPS MINUTES BEFORE DAWN BREAKS THROUGH

INCESSANT WHITE CLOUDS.

TWILIGHT SILENCES ME TO BEING LOST IN YOUR VOICES,

ADDING LEMOO SHIRIN AND CARDAMON SEEDS TO THE SAME
TEACUP AT DUSK IN REMEMBRANCES OF WHERE YOU AND I WENT
TOGETHER TODAY

TEA POURS OVER DEMANDING A LARGER CUP.

SUSTENANCE MANIFESTING IN TIME WELL SPENT.

SHADI KAFI

DAY FOURTEEN
REMEMBRANCE MANTRAS
I keep forgetting
I keep forgetting
I keep forgetting that fasting
isnt about food I keep hoping
I keep finding myself
I keep finding myself
I keep finding myself poised
like a sprinter on the blocks
waiting for the sunset to fire.
A FAST WORD 14
I keep running
I keep running
I keep running the victory lap and
approaching the adoring crowd
(inspired by my sacrifice
moved to tears by my devotion)
I keep hoping
I keep hoping that someone
will drape Gods flag over my
shoulders.
Nathan Davis
 A FAST WORD 15

DAY FIFTEEN
THE DAYS

The sun
cares nothing for the days
we have constructed for ourselves
out of time and words, speeches
and stamps,
our lives, our machines,

and our hubris.

A basketwork of gears
approximating regularity; you see
how proud
we are of what we have created!

Yet for so little.

For only this: to quantify the sun,

which circles, breaks
the systems into which we have
poured our tiny human moments,
one by one. The sun sweeps past,
teaching a greater pattern
to those who would learn it. We
had thought
to be united in our creation,
but the greater pattern laughs, tells
us
for this you must lift your arms to
the sunrise,
each soul reflecting light
as it comes.

Kat Mayerovitch

DAY SIXTEEN
FASTING DIARY
A work of fiction based on a true story
LAST DAY OF AYYM-I-H
I woke up this morning at 4:30 for no
discernible reason and realized that
tomorrow is the first day of the Fast. It's
as if my body can't wait to start. I got up
and tried out some breakfast options. It's
a little concerning that after 20 years, I
still don't know what to eat for breakfast,
but things are looking good for the Fast
this year.
DAY 1
Woke up this morning at 6. Went back to
bed after breakfast. Apparently my body
was just dabbling in insomnia yesterday.
DAY 2
Stayed up after breakfast today! Then
took a 4-hour nap in the middle of the
day and wandered around the house like
a zombie until the sun set.
DAY 3
Mom told me it's important to have
protein in the morning and the internet
says dates stick with you throughout the
day because they have a "low glycemic
index," so I've been making myself a big
ol' protein powder smoothie with dates (I
can't get them down otherwise) and
other stuff that seems healthy to drink
for fasting breakfast. This is nice because
I'm too sleepy to chew. But, of course,
A FAST WORD 16
one knows it's also extremely
important to hydrate in the morning,
so I'm also making sure to have a big
bottle of water. And, since it is the
literal crack of dawn, coffee. So now
I'm sloshing around like the inside of
a whale.
DAY 4
Since we're all fasting we decided to
start our Book 10 intensive at 8:00
this morning. We went straight
through until 5:30 and got through 13
sections! It's amazing what you can
get done when everyone's focused on
service instead of snacks!
DAY 5
Started our intensive at 8:00 this
morning. Got through 3 sections in 4
hours. By 2:30, it became clear that it
was time to go home. Thinking it may
be wise to limit Fast-time intensity in
future.
DAY 6
Decided to try to wean myself off of
coffee, so had tea this morning
instead. Can't see out of my right eye.
DAY 7
Switched back to coffee. Super
grateful I'm not Catholic right now.
DAY 8
Ever since Ruhi weekend, I've been
staying awake after breakfast and
getting a ton of stuff done. Maybe

food and sleep aren't as important as I
think.
DAY 9
You know who else is up before dawn
and only eats at night? Vampires. It's got
me thinking.
DAY 10
Thought I would use some of my extra
vampire time to catch up on "Game of
Thrones." From the thumbnail of the next
episode, though, I think it might not be in
keeping with the spirit of the Fast.
Watching "Finding Dori" instead
(accompaniment!).
DAY 11
Slosh, slosh, slosh. I bet the worst part of
being a vampire is having a liquid diet.
Also, always being cold. It's always cold in
the morning.
DAY 12
I left the house this morning without my
laptop. Then I missed my exit on the
freeway. It is possible that my Fasting
powers are beginning to wane. Did this
happen last year? I can't remember....
*Gasp* Why can't I remember?!?!
DAY 13
Yeah, life is pretty much back to normal
now. It turns out I didn't have
superpowers after all. I was just falling
asleep at 9:00 without noticing.
A FAST WORD 17
AND SO THE DAYS CONTINUED
UNTIL...
NAW-RZ
All in all, it was a good Fast. It really
helped me remember how much
more useful my days are when I wake
up early in the morning, pray, and
take some time to focus before I start
my day. I'm going to try to take this
new routine into the new year this
time and see how much more I'm
able to accomplish (herculean
effort!).
DAY AFTER NAW-RZ
Slept until noon today. Got up and
had coffee. I'll be up all night. Read
through some of the stuff I wrote
during the Fast. Didn't understand
most of it. May have been writing in
tongues. Thinking about a "Game of
Thrones" binge tonight (finally!). But,
then again, maybe I'll check out
"Zootopia" instead.
- Abbie Reedy

DAY SEVENTEEN
DWELL
The elements of my life
surround me now
in the house of elements,
where all is still and good and
sturdy as a ladder-back chair.
where air and books
and work and prayer
give life a grip as firm as
Jobs,
though I am the questioner
who seeks sure-footing
among the white and beautiful
bones
of this house that is built
as Gods house surely must be
of the space between
broken bars.
In silence, at night, I seed
pomegranates.
AE Lefton
A FAST WORD 18
DAY EIGHTEEN
TIME WAS
Before the sun
Maybe even before breath
Underwater.
By the time my feebleness
entered the picture,
Oxygen, water and breath
were essential.
Fundamental to humility
Remembering that emptiness
That whole and holiness
Before the sun, before the moon
Before food, before breath.
Now to remember those times
we are asked to Fast, to lengthen
the spaces we require from
earthly entanglements, the seductions
that push against the free float we
once enjoyed, buoyed by needlessness.
Before the sun, before the moon
Before food, before breath.
We must take measure, we must draw
pleasure from the pulse of prayer
the plentitude of gracious providence.
And set no limit to its duration
Find that endless time
Before the sun, before the moon
Before food, before breath.
- Vernyce Dannells