HALEEMA AL-AIDE

HALEEMA

AL-AIDE

"THIS POEM FOR"

This poem for everything

we have never had

This is to the cars we never rode;

for the dresses we never wore;

for the rich and for the poor

This is to the sentences and words

that our throats chocked in,

but never told~

This is to the fathers we've never had

To the good-hearted mothers

whose hands are full of peppers and onions smells

This is to the sisters I wished I've never had

and to the one who I wouldn't exist

without having

This is to the religions I was born with

To the beliefs I convinced myself in believing

This is to my innocent past and my corrupted present~

This is to my patient future

To the universe, earth and nature~

This is to boys we liked

but never talked to

To the girls we wished we could be

but failed every time we tried to~

This is to the food we ate

not out of hunger

but to extinguish

our depression that wanders

around like a careless tourist~

This is to the restaurants we never walked in

To the countries we never visited

and to the streets we never got sick from

This is to the shops we never bought from,

because their prices and brands are bigger than us;

bigger than our budget;

bigger than who we are and who we can be~

This is to the dreamers and losers

This is to the nails we grew;

and  the watches we wore,

so we can "fit in"

This is to your people

and my people

and we-people

We-society

we die to satisfy~

This is to our sleepless nights

and to our sleepy nights

This is to our dreams and cries;

our truths and lies

our Hi's and goodbyes

This is to the No's and Yeses

To the rejection and acceptance~

This is to every organ

of our bodies,

trying to live

trying to be

Let it be~

Haleema Al-aide

THIS TO THE WOMEN WHO

spoke of love before

they ever receive any

To the women who

like to define themselves

as being mighty

smart or even lively

rather than mere women

To the ones who wrote

Letters and learned how to read or write

without any guidance or instructions

on literacy~

This is to the women

whose beauty is a river

that never runs out

Whose thoughts

are mind-boggling

This is to the women

who smoke your cigarettes

and breath your air

Who consume your insecurities

and turn them into something

magical

something forceful

something womanly

something influential~

This is to the forgotten women

This is to the ones who drank from men's hatred

swam in oceans of poverty

This is to the women

who loved and were denied

Gave and were ignored

Suffer and were disregarded

This is to us

all over the globe~

Haleema Al-aide

"DON'T TEXT ME"

Don't text me

I don't feel the words

you originated

after midnight

trying to speak love

to me~

Why do I want

our eyes to meet

to speak passion

to make love

just by looking at each other

meet me

meet every part of my body

feel the presence of my sensations~

Don't text me words

words don't matter

I can't talk to a L O V E word

neither can you declare your affection by constructing empty sentences~

I don't want to disappoint

my soul

meet me

for one last hour

for one last minute

Let our souls collide

for one more time

but don't text me~

HALEEMA AL-AIDE