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Whats that got to do with the constitution ?!
My dear friends did their best to translate my last post from arabic to english , and google failed miserably .. and I must say it is a daunting task to translate the egyptian light hearted dialect into english or even to any other arabic dialect .. I did my best to carry the mood and the sentiment into this translation …
The background to this post is the chaotic pathetic political scene in Egypt nowadays, a shabby referendum on a hastily cooked constitution and a hesitant president who seems to cancel his own decisions as fast as he make them .. Lolo for me is answer to all of this … Tomorrow is hers …
My little Lolo is strict
in full control
Whatever clouds in her heart
She pours
on her hands
lips and eyes
….
Watch her doing her homework
with fun
Whether the paper is blank or full
straight or crumbled
the homework gets done
….
She writes on lines in her heart
Somehow looks tilted to my careless eyes
Yet perfectly aligned
like the pyramid
in hers
….
Thats her opinion, a verdict passed
On me and the school
Thats my homework, done
Once and for all
and daddy , by the way
tomorrow it will be forgotten
and lost
….
She always sticks that sun of hers
In every drawing
Morning be it or night
called for it or not
There it is
at the upper left corner
Just above the heart
Her warming sun
….
Oh my wicked Lolo
Even in drawing
You grab the truth
by the neck
….
Mr President
Lolo is a princess
in her lines
and sultana
Precise and diminutive
Sometimes frizzly and proud
Her letters remain engraved
and in control
….
She doesn’t care
What you carve
She doesn’t give a damn
About your attorney general
Your declaration or
Constitution
….
Tomorrow is hers not yours
She will scribble it by her tiny hand
Not on your perfect lines
no submission
In this heart
….
in her latest drawing
She wrote
….I love
Words in your world
Missing on intent ,accused and guilt
….
But for Lolo thats
Her dream
Love for her is for all
And tomorrow for her
All drawn
scrambled
Grabbled
Scribbled
But hers ..
….
Let the boys rule
By the ball
By the boyish fights
And the laughs that follows
Let the girls reminds us
Of the butterflies
Of the love
Pure like the dawn
…
TarekOfCairo
ايه اللي جاب الدستور هنا ؟
البنت بنتي لولو
مسيطرة
اللي في قلبها على لسانها
وفي ايديها وفي عنيها وملو فُمها
ولو شفتها وهي بتعمل واجب المدرسة
تلاقيها تنجز لا يهمها الورقة مليانه
فاضية، مفروده، ولا مكرمشة
هتكتب هتكتب على سطور في قلبها
مايلة في عنيا بميزاني
تحفة زي الهرم موزونة عندها
دا رأيها
ونافذ … عليا وعلى المدرسة
ودا الواجب خلاص خلصته
ومش هيتعاد تاني ..
وبكره يابابا واجبكم ها يتنسى
ولولو غاوية تلطع شمس في كل رسمه
صباح كانت ولا مسا
بمناسبة ومن غير مناسبة
في الركن الشمال فوق القلب بشوية
لازم في كل ورقة شمسها الدافية
آه يابنت الايه يا لولو
حتي في الرسم وخداها بالعافية
ياريس لولو في خطوطها اميرة
ومتسلطنة
وحروفهااللي منقوشة منمنمة كده
ومنفوشة ومتعنطزة
وفي الحقيقة معلمة ومسيطرة
ولا علي بالها النحت اللي بتنحتوه
لا يهمها نايب ولا اعلان ولا الدستور
هو بُكره بُكرها بتخُطه بالمنكوش
لا هتمشي علي سطركم
ولا هايهمها حكمكم
وفي قلبها مافيش أمر ولا جبر ولا مأمور ..
في آخر رسمة لولو كتبت
I love
وكام نقطة بعدها
وف عرفكم الجملة كدا ناقصة
نية وتربية ومتهم وذنوب
لكنه دا حِلمها
و الحب في قلبها للكل مقدور
بكرة خلاص لولو
راسماه معفرت ملخبط مشخبط
بس بخط إيدها مكتوب
سيبوا العيال تُحكمنا
بالكورة والزعلة
والضحكة بعد العركة
سيبوا البنات تفكرنا
بالفراشة والزهرة
بالحب زي الفجر
عالفطرة ..
TarekOfCairo
العنوان من اختيار لولو … وانا بقرأ لها فجأة وقفتنا وقلتلي ” هوا ايه اللي جاب الدستور هنا؟” … وعجبي
Egypt’s days of shame
The colour of blood
Is all red …
Spilled screaming
on our dawn
….
The flesh of burnt pride
Is all the same
Like the smell of hate
We both exhale
….
The chasm of void
Between us deeper
Than my stupidity
and your cruelty
….
your fingers hold mine
On the same knife
that stabbed us
into the same fate
….
Just as we were tortured
In the same jail that wore our graffiti
not so long, remember
if you dare
….
If we survived today
we will lie flat black eyed
Stretched on the cold asphalt
Facing the same blue sky
….
And if we die
We will hug each other
Stacked in the same grave
Peacefully gone ,
….
If love fails to unite us
today, Like every other day
In the history of shame
We are wastefully done
Just the same ..
….
TarekOfCairo
The jungle .. الغابة
The beautiful photo is courtsey of my friend Robyn L.
سامقة اشجارها
تحيطني سيقانها
فكأني سجين غابة وارفة
أحس بحرِّها رغم زحامها
فأعجب كيف وأين ظلالها
فأمد بصري لعليائها
الي أذرع ملساء متنافره
من لهيب الشمس
تسن سنانها
الي عدو قد يكون انا ها هنا
فأعدوا في خلوها وخلائها
فلا انس في سكنها
ولا ظل يبدوا الا في بطنها
A wood like all
Imprisoned
Between the long legs
and the fallen stems
crack under my feet
The heat I feel
Makes me wonder
Shouldn’t there be
Plenty of shade
Eyes climb the trees
To the pointy bare beaming arms
Praying to the searing sun heat
Sharpening there teeth
Could that be , for me ..
Shocked I flee
As it came to me
The only shade here
Is down the soil
Deep under the trees
TarekOfCairo
Taking a leap of faith ..
“Take no risk son”
Mother said
“I fear for you
from a deceitful fate”
The heat under my feet
The heaviness of the stillness
Itching on my sole
.. go..don’t wait ..
and behind these hills
and the unsettled clouds
Lies the temptation
Of a dream I create
So I depart
the recitation of certainty
and the suffocation of boredom
the overweight and
gruelling waste
With a baby’s shaky feet
and a gritty heart
Fearless and doubtless
With tiny steps or even a mighty fall
Life is certainly a prize for
A leap of faith
TarekOfCairo
Titanic ..
The bad wind of the day
carried my sail ..
Into the loveliest night
“Do you trust me?
…I trust you jack “
“….Where to Ms..?
…To the stars!”
“You are so stupid Rose..
….Why did you do that ? ..”
“Rose Dawson”
A name for a legacy ..
Thats where it starts
Thats where it ends ..
Inspired by a day of hurtful comments and a “Titanic” end …
TarekOfCairo
The 5 miles Zone …
Sep 17
Posted by TarekOfCairo
Someone asked me why I don`t answer my phone… well.. quite simply I don`t want …
Do you remeber the good old times of the big fat Beatle-like dial phone… It will sit in a corner somewhere minding its business.. never it ran to wake me up or follow me in the streets…
Posted in Commentary, Kuwait, Photography, Poems, Video, Youtube
5 Comments
Tags: Canon D600, Photography, Poems, TarekOfCairo, time management, youtube