Octuber 2023

I finished reading Isabel Allende’s masterpiece La Casa de los Espirítus last week, and I’m still gripped by its magic.The story spans over more than 1 century and covers the tumultuos events that Chile (it also can be any other Latin America country) went through during the 20th century. The narrator, who is also one of the main characters of the story-Alba, writes to chronicle the story of her family and of her country, relying on her grandmother’s journals. In the last paragraph, she writes, and I quote:

Escribo, ella[Clara] escribió, que la memoria es frágil y el transcurso de una vida es muy breve y sucede todo tan deprisa, que no alcanzamos a ver la relación entre los acontecimietos, no podemos medir la consecuencia de los actos, creemos en la ficción del tiempo, en el presente, el pasado y el futuro, pero puede ser también que todo ocurre simultáneamente…Por eso mi abuela Clara escribía en sus cuadernos, para ver las cosas en su dimensión real y para burlar a la mala memoria”

here’s my humble translation:

“I write, she[Clara] writes, that the memory is fragile and life passes too quickly that we are not able to see the relationship between the events. We cannot measure the consequences of our acts, we believe in the fiction of time: past, present and future, but perhaps everything happens simultaneously… For this reason, my grandmother Clara used to write in her journals, to see things in their real dimension and to laugh at the flimsy/bad memory”

It’s been a while since I’ve actually written. A new academic year has taken off, and a new routine of studying, doing sports and socializing has accompanied it. I feel the weight of writing- as if I have to write. or better said, I need to write. I surreptitiously read poetry at the library, and write in my journals during lunch breaks. Especially, since I don’t have many friends at the faculty (which is better, because I have more time to read Anna Karenina). During these moments I’m reminded by a line by Darwish and sung by Khalifa: “واسرق وقتا لكي يسرقوني من الوقت”. In other times, the continuity of the day and its mundane occurrences are interrupted by checking the news back home and feeding on the depressing energy of how bad can it get?

interestin stuff:

• speaking of Chile, this year marked the 50th anniversary for the 1973 coup carried out by Pinochet and supported by the CIA (operación condor). Also this year, the Chilean supreme court sentenced the murderers of the chilean poet and singer Victor Jara who was assasinated for his revolutionary songs. Here’s a poem and a commentary.

• I listened to a podcast by Sawt, in which they read a poem by the Palestinian Ramallah-based poet Dalia Taha. I’m sharing with you an excerpt of the poem in Arabic, and I will share a translation of it soon:

نحن غاضبات جدا
غاضبات من العالم الذي لا يعرف كيف يطفا الحرائق
غاضبات من الرجال, الذين لا يعرفون اين يضعون ايديهم حين يقبلوننا
من امهاتنا اللواتي لم يعلمننا ان الحب لن ياتي
فهن ربينا اخوتنا, عشاقنا
غاضبات من الاشجار
تلك التي وقفنا اسفلها
لنطلب من احد ان ينظر في عيوننا
وتلك التي تنمو دانب النهر لكي تعلق بها الجثث
ماذا نفعل بك ايتها الاشجار؟
نحن غاضبات جدا
غاضبات من الوطن الذي لا يتوقف عن الكذب
كم انت وقح ايها الوطن
ولا احد يستحق ان يموت لاجلك
نحن غاضبات من قلة الحيلة
غاضبات لاننا لا نستطيع ان نخبر الاطفال وهم يسالون عن مدنهم بان يبحثوا عن النجمة اكثر لمعانا حتى يجدوها
كيف تواسي من ماتت مديينته؟
البشر فقط يصيرون نجوما
المدن تصير ركاما
لا نقبرها حتى لو تحولت الى مقبرة
نحن غاضبات على الحدود التي لا نراها الا حين تقسم جسدا الى نصفين

part of Daliah Taha’s book The biography of the citizens of R city سيرة سكان مدينة “ر”

• The 1st of October means The Second Intifada, faces of martyrs like Aseel and Alaa, who were killed by Israeli police in my hometown during the protests that erupted after Ariel Sharon invaded the Aqsa Mosque. Is there anything poetic to say about the second intifada? the body bleeds, but it’s full of hope to live. It also means Marcel Khalifa- the most poetic musician and composer our region produced.
• I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts because I have a bike daily for 40 mins más o menos. Listening to Afikra podcast, I heard an interview with Zeina Hisham Beck. I’m sharing a poem by her Ghazal: with prayer
• One last podcast, I swear. Shabjdeed was interviewed by Sarde team! At the end they asked him: is there hope? I love his answer.
• I went to a Sorrolla’s exhibition last week. Whenever I think of Sorrolla, I think of light. Meditterranean light to be exact.

Here’s till next month 🙂