tarfa

you are not a loan hayati
   but a gift that unfolds like
               a silk scarf staircase

i
descend
       from heaven
                    to

                          heaven                 wandering              but

                
                                         every greeting is you.

what does it mean
               to be
                   a passenger
                          if the coach has carried
                                             your belongings    to a  cliff
that crumbled

              past        sky

                    the
                            رفیقي        رفیق العمر كل       ما في عیوني ضال  
    
i’m back in
some cafe 
and people think
i’m interesting y tal
cause i'm wearing black also when i whisper عود
they think perfume or
my heart, that hollowed out instrument 
played by a family friend between sips of tea 
what i mean is
return with
the force of a sandstorm habibi.                                                         

malexi dawa bay

Photo courtesy of Cairo Kid