Le Beirut;

That could have been me. 

Among the nurses working in the dark with nothing but flashlight to guide them.

Among the men and women grasping at the hands of those crushed around them.

Among the frightened and helpless and the brave and strong.

Yet here I am like so many others,

Children of the diaspora. 

Glued to screens, trapped across oceans and seas

But feeling every shard in our hearts. 

Immersing ourselves in guilt and shame for having ever left our homes. 

Homes that we grew to respect, to love, to cherish after years of tumultuous growth.

The city of lost youth, of bursting blooms, of endless nights under the stars

Art exploding on the walls of every zawarib, 

Stairs of turquoise, magenta, periwinkle blue 

Beirut ya Beirut 

My heart imploded with you 

My soul left behind in the soil of your earth now scattered across the land

My heart imploded with you

We shook and trembled with you, 

In Mourning we stand 

Watching from behind a glass wall as if trapped in a haze.

I await the day Beirut where you will rise again, 

The Phoenix in all its glory

Magnanimous.

Majestic. 

Magnificent once more.

Free.

One;

I always felt that it was wrong/to lay my world in foreign hands

it all got mixed up in my head,

move here/ move there/ move

sun. shadow. sand. snow.

confuddled.

who are you going to be?

a solid question, she says/

any answers? look the other way;

I see a way out & I can hear an echo that begs to be followed

that's

a 

lot

of 

question

marks

I don't have anything figured out, but does it matter anymore?

i'm sure no one has anything figured out

that's the only thing I do know, really.

I see a way out & I can see the sun on the horizon 

just call me foreigner;