aicha bint yusif

Untitled

I arrived home late this evening I poured a glass of white wine that I didn’t drink because I was tired

Running has always been a source of pleasure Racing the wind, releasing the mind Feeling the strong muscles move under my control Until that day when it all stopped: I was running at the beach, where a military base lies nearby And to practice they run in groups With guns slouching at their sides … Continue reading That weird running incident

A short response

” Where should the birds fly after the last sky?” – Mahmoud Darwish They fly to their nests and hatch poems of spring.

في بلاد الباسك – in the Basqueland

First you begin with a recipe, that’s how all short stories begin. The ingredients vary and so does the taste. His main ingredient is sorrow. He would like to warn her, but her persistent eyes and hospitable smile override his attempts. The 91-year old Karim sits hunched over his seat, basking under the Basque sun,… Continue reading في بلاد الباسك – in the Basqueland

distance

Hand drawn pomegranate tree on grunge background

The pomegranate trees are heavy. they call for me to reach out for their fruits- relieve them from sweetness, their only truth. The pomegranate trees wait for me prostrating to the South in pleasure only the wind steals my voice and endeavour. The pomegranate trees are lonely in Palestine, and so am I… Continue reading distance

How does art reclaim public space in Haifa?

In his Poetics of Space, the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard writes that “we must describe what we imagine before what we know” (25). In a similar way, imagining public space through art and literature is one way of changing, reclaiming and owning the reality of that space. Since the “spatial turn” in the… Continue reading How does art reclaim public space in Haifa?

illustrated poem of Haifa

Here is a poetic topography of Haifa, a city I have been living in for the past 4 years.

SAD SUNDAY POEM

The news of death never bring me to tears They stay undressed, waiting to be redeemed. There’s something about the fragility Of life: once so vibrant and once so depressing. As if the rhythms of the evenings falling with the sun And the tilt of the leaves falling from the trees Are in constant need… Continue reading SAD SUNDAY POEM

last poem

running next to the train tracks leaves no place for fear to follow. chasing other emotions of pleasure, joy and happiness. The breeze of the ocean running in the opposite direction: the lavender leaning in prayer and the sun. That city survived a war. And to bury it underneath, it swallowed molotovs and guns and… Continue reading last poem

Chaos and Love

Rhizome of Asparagus. Woodcut engraving, published in 1882.

Descending the train demands more effort than usual. It’s 11am on a Sunday morning in Haifa central bus station. She gets off and looks for some shade to wait for the next train to Tel Aviv. She drags her carry-on bag filled with clean clothes, containers of Dwali, Maqlobi and other veggies and fruits that… Continue reading Chaos and Love