Poetry

Reuters photo

By

Amirah Al Wassif

Before my death

before my death,

I would like to sit beside an innocent homeless girl

in front of one of the UNICEF banners

in our hungry wide street

talking together about the biscuits

and the magnificent toys and the ice cream

before my death,

I will try my best to make her

taste the childhood flavor

and she will try her best

to draw a false smile on her face

and because her cheeks will be

mixed of rosy and dirty

I will convince myself that

she is very happy

before my death,

I would like to kiss all the flowers

especially the lilacs

I will be able to toss my grief aside

hoping to find a supernatural sign

one of those upper signs

which touches us gently

one of those upper signs

which takes our souls for a long fabulous walk for free

before my death,

I would like to laugh in a loud tone

cause I will be close enough to the political posters

which will be hung everywhere

and I will sing one and last song

for the love and the freedom

and I will dedicate it to the lonely and the frightened

and the immigrants and the dreamers

before my death

I would like to throw

the most creative jokes

among the boys and the girls

and I will gather the most delicious fruits

sending them to those who used to plant them

but never tasting any

before my death

I would like to kiss the famine babies wide-eyed

and saying “sorry” in another way

I will say it like a poem

escaped from the bottom of the heart

and appeared itself

in no words

before my death

I will praise the woman who works breaking rocks

who fight in the day

and come down in the night

an extraordinary woman knows how

to struggle under the angry sun

an extraordinary woman know

how to fold her begotten clothes

among the mess of rocks

an extraordinary woman knows

how to be a soldier in battle

and clown in the theatre

before my death

I will salute all the women

who work breaking rocks

I will salute them with love and pity

before my death,

I would like to give

endless tickets

to the orphans around the world

and I will break my ego mirror

for getting rid of my old grins

and trying to find a true

smile similar to theirs

before my death

I would like to share my food with a lost dog

in the corner of the road

or in the dirty narrow tavern

before my death

I will learn how I have to live

Amirah Al Wassif

Amirah Al Wassif is a freelance writer. She has written articles, novels, short stories poems and songs. Five of her books were written in Arabic and many of her English works have been published in various cultural magazines. Amirah is passionate about producing literary works for children, teens and adults which represent cultures from around the world. Her first book, Who do not Eat Chocolate was published in 2014 and her latest illustrated book, The Cocoa Book and Other Stories is forthcoming.