حرام عليكي

حرام عليكي، حسي شوي

ما بيستاهل تقسي علي

شفنا حالو

قلنا مالو

قامو قالوبحب خطي

... بحبك، لا تقسي علي

*****

حرام عليكي، حسي شوي

عا حالو قلقان الحي

حلمو مركب

انتي بحرو

... نشفتي بيبحرو المي

... بحبك لا تقسي خطي

*****

حرام عليكي، طلي علي

تعبان ومش لاقي في

عيونو العتمة

عيونك ضي

خلي الحب يضوي الليل

و يقولو يا محلا الضي

كرمالي

ابتسميلو شوي

Cold Inside; Cold Outside

Sitting in a cafe in Birmingham, Michigan.
I am here visiting my cousin, who is spending the week-end in the States interviewing for her residency.
Is there anybody left in Lebanon? Beyond 25 years of age?
I know those who are "stuck" have either found a job in downtown Beirut, or are at home, waiting to be called upon by their leaders to the streets, or by some embassy for a visa, whichever comes first.
I was happy though to see my cousin. We sort of grew up together.

It is cold in here,
as it is outside.
Snow flurries cover the streets and the cars.

We are talking about the past days, and as an aged bottle of good red wine, memories lift your spirits and put a smile on your face. But, somehow, you feel the cold creeping in on you as you realize how easily and quickly things are changing around you.
Life is cold my freinds,
life is freezing cold- most of the time.

Baakleen National Library

I remember
the books filling up the shelves everywhere around us,
all the whispering, and the sign language,
the smell of paper and the sound of turning pages,
my favorite comic books and magazines,
envying the children working on their homework duties,
wishing I lived closer so I could come everyday,
my sister getting bored and annoying us,
I rememeber the old building and the white stone; the old staircase and the long brown tables. Every library I enter will only be a modified version of the Baakleen National Library, and every one of them, I know, will not be as good or as beautiful.
But starting today, everytime I enter a library, I will remember Baakleen, and a dream you once had, of opening a library on the first floor of your house in the North.
** The Baakleen National Library was inaugurated on the evening of Friday March 13,1987, after the National Center for Information and Studies has finished reconditioning the historical building which was called “Baakleen Serai”, an old Ottoman building, which gives the library its special status.