I Ask you to Leave

While this beautiful poem by Nizar Qabbani is specifically addressed to his lover, I think that the theme can also be applied to any perfect and delicate memory we shield away from reality for fear of ruining it...


Let us part a little..
For the sake of what's best for this love, my love
And what's best for us..
Let us part a little
Because I want you to love me more
I want you to hate me a little
For the sake of what we have..
What used to be precious memories..
For the sake of a wonderful love..
That is still carved on our lips
That is still engraved on our hands
For the sake of the letters you wrote me
And your face like a flower implanted within me
And your lingering love on my hair, on my fingers
For the sake of our memories
And our beautiful sorrow and smile
And our love which grew bigger than our words
Bigger than our lips..
For the sake of the most beautiful love story of our lives
I ask you to leave
Let us part as lovers..
Birds in every season..
Part with hills..
And the sun my love..
Is prettiest when it tries to set
Be the doubt and torment of my life
Be a legend for once..
Be a mirage for once..
Be the question on my mouth
That does not know the answer
For the sake of a wonderful love
That resides in our hearts and lashes
And for me to be prettier
And for you to be closer
I ask you to leave
Let us part…as lovers..
Let us part in spite of all the love and tenderness
Through tears my love
I want you to see me
Through fire and smoke
I want you to see me
Let us burn.. let us cry my love
For we have forgotten
Long time ago what a blessing it is to cry
Let us part..
So our love is not reduced to habit
And our longing to ashes
So that flowers in vases do not wither
Do not worry my little one
Your love still fills my eyes and conscience
And I am still fascinated by your vast love
And I still dream of having you
My knight and my prince
But I.. but I..
Am afraid of my passion
Am afraid of my feelings
I am afraid of tiring of our longing
I am afraid of our closeness
I am afraid of our embrace
In the name of a great love
That blossomed like spring within us
Shone like sun in our eyes
In the name of the most beautiful love story of our ages
I ask you to leave..
For our love to remain beautiful..
For our love to live longer..
I ask you to leave..

(Painting by Salvador Dali)

The White Man's Burden

“The White Man’s Burden” is the title of a nineteenth-century poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. The poem is perceived by many literary critics as a racist argument for Western imperialism. According to them, it is a blatant call for white supremacist values to salvage the rest of the world from the "darkness of their cultures". Whether Mr. Kipling, lying in his deep dark grave, agrees with this reading of his poem or not, centuries of colonialism and occupation proved the ideology to be a complete failure.
Today, though, the “white man” seems to be carrying a different type of burden. That is the heavy shadows of the past years of arrogant racism. Take modern German history as an example. Inarguably, one of the most sensitive spots in German collective sub-conscience today is the Nazi era. The post Second World War generations feel compelled to sever any ties of sympathy with anyone who had been involved in the Holocaust. Quite naturally, many still haven’t figured out how to reconcile with such a disturbingly ever-present past.
Another example can be seen in South Africa, which ended its apartheid regime less than two decades ago. While it is admirable how the country managed a transition to democracy through nonviolent means, the tension between different races in the country can still be strongly felt. High crime rates, among other indicators, reflect tensions of the present and violence of the past. However, as an observer, I find it quite notable that many seem obliged to over-emphasize patriotic bonds and paint a bright harmonious picture of multi-ethnic relations evading any deep examination of the issue.
Germany and South Africa are hardly the only two examples. Many complex issues of the sort exist across the globe where a racial conflict had recently risen. Can we look at this modern “burden” as a part of the healing process that will eventually lead to reconciliation? Is it that ugly scar that reminds you not to play with a knife again? The world is certainly shifting to a more politically and economically decentralized state away from the imperialist models of the past centuries. Many would argue that that is not the case culturally, but I seriously doubt that the masses would be enthusiastically flocking towards any blatantly pro-colonialist best-sellers hitting the book stands or box offices any time soon. At least we can relax that Kiplings of the world had their day and is now gone.

(Painting from Ohio State University Gallery)

Drunken Memory

By Ghada Al Samman

Why
Is it that when I am drunk on an airplane
The clouds form a map of Syria
One cloud after the other?
***
During Parisian exile events, I cut the ceremonial ribbons of rain
At Maxime Restaurant with a scythe from our old Shami village.
If I were a woman of chocolate,
I would’ve melted under the suns of Singapore and Manila.
If I were a woman of salt,
I would’ve dissolved in the sea waters between Lisbon and Barcelona.
But I am a Sinbad who circled the earth in search of her lover,
While he had been lying deep inside her all along , and his name is her Country
***
He was cruel and violent.
I felt his palm like an ice block when he took my hand
But I have loved him and followed him to the end of the world
While snow fell off his eyes over me…
And his lips blew winds of the Alps when he whispered my name,
His name was: Exile
I do not regret that wretched love,
For the so-called “exile” taught me better than any other teacher how

To write the name of my country with stars on a board made of night.

---------------------------------

(My translation from Arabic version)

Painting by Lord Frederick Leighton

Foolish Woman

By Nizar Qabani

My dear lord
This is a letter
From a foolish woman
Has a foolish woman ever written to you before?
My name?
Let’s leave names aside
Rania or Zainab
Hind or Haifa
The silliest things we bear, my lord, are names
My lord
I fear of voicing my concern
I fear, if I did, the skies will burn
For your orient, my dear lord,
Confiscates blue letters
Seizes dreams from women’s dressers
Uses knives
And blades
To talk to women
Slaughters springs and yearnings
And black braids
Your orient, my dear lord,
Crafts sublime crowns of honor
Out of women’s skulls
Do not criticize me my lord
If my handwriting is poor
As I write with a swordsman behind my door
And outside my room winds howl and dogs growl
My lord
Antara the Brave is behind my door
He would slaughter me
Should he see my letter
He would behead me
Should I defy my fetter
He would behead me
Should my dress be unproper
For your honor, my dear lord,
Sieges women with spears
Appoints men as seers
And buries women
Do not be upset!
My dear lord…from my lines
Do not be upset
If I smash the bottle sealed for ages
If I break the iron stamp on my pages
If I run away
From the castles and the harem cages
If I revolt against my death
My grave
My roots
And the great slaughterhouse
Do not be upset my lord!
If I unveil my passions
For an oriental man
Does not care for poetry nor passion
An oriental man
Does not understand a woman except in bed
Pardon me…pardon me my lord
If I offend men’s kingdom
Great literature – surely men’s literature – and love
Have always been men’s share
And sex has always been
A drug sold to men
Women’s freedom in our country is a myth
For there is no freedom
Other than men’s freedom
My lord
Say what you please of me, I won’t mind – superficial, foolish, crazy, stupid - I no longer mind
Because she who writes about her woes
Is a foolish woman according to men’s logic
Didn’t I say earlier that I am
A foolish woman?

(My translation from the Arabic version)

Illustration by Virginia Frances Sterrett

The Big Picture Isn't Always the Pretty One

Earlier this week, finance ministers gathered for another G20 meeting. And as the custom goes with similar summits, groups of protesters always gather outside the meeting headquarters to voice angry anti-institutional complaints regardless of their reasonability or feasibility. What these protestors and many other impassioned spectators watching from the comfort of their living rooms seem to misunderstand every time is that such financial and economic summits couldn't care less about you. Economic policies are all about the big picture. The fact that you might have recently lost your job is irrelevant. You’re a statistic. What matters is the overall wellbeing of a community over a period of time – usually a long one, which means that by then you will have either found another job, learned a new skill, or died.
The truth is world economy has witnessed dozens of crises and adjustment policies are always painful. There will always be a gap between countries depending on their development levels. But what adds insult to injury is that media focuses single-mindedly on the victims and neglects to mention the groups that actually do end up being better off. Just as there is a group of losers, there is a group of winners. But again, no place for individuals here.

Economics at times might seem too harsh and impersonal. The best thing to do in that case is shut the news channel and grab a feel-good self-gratifying flick.

Painting by Salvador Dali

Rude Awakening

“God loves you, which is why he chose you to be a Christian like your mom”. “Allah loves you, which is why he chose you to be a Muslim like your dad”. I grew up hearing those phrases, and always wondered “but how do you know?”. “Didn’t he just tell the other ‘non-believers’ the same thing?”. Of course I never dared to ask out loud.
After many years, I see such expressions, in addition to others like “God gave me a sign to do so and so” or “Allah will choose what’s best for me”, as a mere manifestation of humankind’s egocentric nature, and its constant need to prove that “yes, the world does revolve around me”. This is also the likely source for the need to believe in an omniscient, omnipotent god who is vigilantly protecting you against all the evil and randomness out there.
It’s true that individuals can not thrive without the constant reassurance from those around them that they are smart, beautiful, unique, etc. And without the belief that we are taken care of by a supreme power, many would aimlessly float in a gloomy existentialist vacuum. But this becomes a serious issue when it ignites ideologies based on discrimination and condescension. There is no "Chosen People". For once, science and religion both agree that all humans come from the same source – of course they soon diverge when it comes to what that source is. Similarly, there is no "The One" destined to save humanity from hollow simulations of how an ideal life should be. Last thing I heard, Neo succumbed to a hefty job offer from Microsoft and is also starting his own line of trendy trench coats for the fall-winter 2009 season.
Sorry, but that's as good as it gets...

Painting by Rene Magritte

Cafe de Flore

A sliver from "the City of Light"....