"انظروا باتجاه الجنوب
تروا زمناً مستميتاً تسلّل من دمنا
فاحذروا موتنا في الجنوب،
احذروا موتنا في الجنوب"
جودت فخر الدين - ١٩٧٨
“Look toward the south
you’ll see a desperate age sneaking from our blood
so beware our death in the south,
beware our death in the south.”
Jawdat Fakhreddine, 1978 (author’s translation)
July-November 2024
You don’t notice September’s arrival, you who always anticipate September. In July, you kept checking the ticket prices from California to Lebanon. August felt like a haunting.
“Wake up,” your friend texts, “Beirut.” The name of the city suffices. You make coffee. You forget your antidepressants.
“Has the war begun?” the headlines ask. Has it ever ceased? You’re still unable to cry.
You don’t call your mother – you’re afraid of her sadness.
