علمني كيف احبس انفاسا خالطت عبقك

علمني كيف اغمض عينا وَشَمَتْ صورتك

علمني كيف اسكت قلبا طرب صوتك

علمني كبف اوقف دما تدفق ل مبسمك

علمني كيف اهدي روحا ليست بيدي

علمني كيف اقبل ثغرا قال الثريا موطني

علمني كيف ابصر بعد ان سرق طرفك نظري

علمني كيف امسك يدك لاهتدي

علمني علمني علمني …

اشتقت لحضن حوى الحياة وسرق مهجتي

جلست على ضفاف نهر في وقت الغسق

رايت احمرار السماء فقلت سبحان من خلق

جال في جسمي عبيرا مما افترشته الارض من عبق

جاءت حمامة بلون المسك فحطت بجانبي ولم تتردد

لمستها فخجلت وتبدل لونها واكتست بالزبرجد

و سمعت لقلبها صوتا مثل طبول الحرب للمدد

فقلت على رسلك واطمئني لا ارى صقرا هنا ولا اسد

قفزت على كتفي و مالت براسها فإذا بدمعها ينحدر

قلت لها هل ترين الاشجار و السماء و هذا النهر

هل ترين عقد النجوم ؟ انت اوسطه واندر الدرر

هل ترين الشجر ؟ انت ظلها و حنانك ما يتساقط من ثمر

هل ترين النهر ؟ عينك منبعه و لولا دقات قلبك ما انهدر

ستلت جناحها و قلدتني وساما قالت هو لك للابد

فاذا بالوسام ينبض حنينا لقد اهدتني قلبها الاوحد

لو ان كل شعاع من الشمس تكلم ..

لو ان كل قطرة مطر استطاعت ان تتبسم

لو ان كل نسمة أرادت ان تحيط بجسم منعم

لو ان كل سحابة اصطفت حسناء لتحضنها وتتنعم

لما وجدت الشمس اجمل من ثغرك يتكلم

ولما وجد المطر اسمى منك ان ينظر اليه ويتبسم

ولما وجدت نسمة الشمال اطهر من جسمك يحتَضنْ

ولهوى السحاب يحوط روحك يهيم و ينسجم

فلو علمت بما اخفي من شوق اليتيم المعدم

لتركت ذلك النعيم و رضيت بحنين حضني وقبلة متيمُ

يقولون صباح جميل ونسمة عليل و تغريد بلبل رخيم

فلو رأوا وجهك لقالوا سبحان ربي ما هذا الوجه الكريم

ان لعينيها سحرا ما زال كل شاعر لوصفها غريم

وان في وجهها مشْرِقَيْنِ كل وجنة شمس تخرج من افق مغيم

ولم يأبه لنور الشمس ثغرها اذ تلألأ بدرا طغى على نورهما المبين

وان شفتاها جنتان من جوري كان لونه للدم نديم

أطبقت بالجنان على نور البدر خجلا فامتلأ الكون من ذك النسيم

نظرت بعينها فركعت جحافل الروم وتبعها الفرس مقرنين

قالوا ما لنا طاقة اليوم بجمال عينها ولقد اثنينا لها الركب طائعين

وتلك العين التي تتفجر من فمها ريقا خمرا فهنيئا للشاربين

فهل بعد ذلك صباح اجمل من ذلك الوجه البسيم ؟

Here we are again, day in, day out, and year in, year out, and nothing remain the same! Or is it? We blame the time. “The time has changed,” we say. What part of time has changed, I wonder? Or is it a metaphor to blame humans for not being adaptive to time? It seems to me that everything has changed except time, yet we blame it all on it.

There are volumes of literature, oceans of science, hundreds of hypothesis and theories about the definition of time. The question has always been: “What is time?”

Einstein ran out of blackboards and chalks trying to answer that, which also begs the notion, what if the question was, “Who is time?” Would the answer be a human, or something else? Would we be able to communicate with them? What kind of personality would time have? Patient, most would presume. Consistent would also be at the top of the chart. What else? Old? Wise, maybe?

Would it be fair to say that time is just? Rich, or poor? Does time care about what humans do? Would time look back at 2020 and say, “You know what? This year has been hard and confusing to most, so I will speed things up a little in 2021.” Although, what would that mean if it did? Does time have authority over the sun and the moon, asking them to spin the way they do?

Would it be nice to ask time, “What the hell are you doing with my body when you do whatever the hell it is you do? Is it you that make me get old and weak, or is it that my body has a biological clock of its own? Does being immortal mean that you have no jurisdiction on the body? Or is it that time and death are best buddies?”

We often hear the phrase, “The right place at the right time.” Does it mean that time could be wrong? And by being wrong do we mean that it skips hours, minutes or even seconds? We also say, “Oh, I was just killing time.” Does that mean that the notion of time is a living entity that could be killed is valid? Or it is just another human ignorance?

Humans always tend to like to overcomplicate everything. I often wonder why that is. I guess it’s simply because we refuse to adapt and accept change, and regard simplicity as an act of insanity in some cases. Seriously, how would you react if someone told you, “I am actually trying to reinvent the wheel,”? Would it be fair to acuse them of being dumb, stupid, or even a psycho? What if the wheel could have been invited differently? Or more appropriately, Why wheels?

All aviation and physics rules that humans know today suggest that a bee cannot fly! But fortunately for the bees they did not attend Harvard, MIT or Oxford. Are bees wrong? Or do we have to “reinvent” the aviation physics?

The same with time, even in the creative minds of authors of fiction. They always have to create a plot to convince the reader that they applied some of these rules. For example, to travel in time, there has to be a machine or some sort of a time warp, or going into some remote place with certain circumstances, etc. I am not a scientist, not am I a writer or a novelist. I just like to think that I have a mind of a bee.

I like to think that there is no time, and it is just something humans invented to organize their everyday life.

Time is just a tool or gadget. It has no connection with us, our feelings, or with our memories. The joy I had when I caught a big fish has nothing to do with time. The joy I had when I looked at her eyes would not matter if it was day or night. The sorrow I felt when my parents passed away makes time meaningless. The dimension that music takes me to can never be killed or passed like people think time could do.

As bees don’t care what humans think about flying and fly anyway, I don’t care about what humans think about time and wish you a happy new bee’s year.

جلست والشمس ناعسة والقمر بدرا حلو شبابه .. والبحر يهمس وداع الشمس في شتاء جافٍ زمهريرا

قلت ابا محمد ما لي لا ارى من وجهك الا حاجبه … اكان البرد ام اردت ان تخفي شيبك عن تلك الحسناء تباعا

ام ان ناظرك قد ضَعُف اداؤه … فما ترى الا ما اقترب منك وان كان سراجا وهاجا

قال والله اني لأَراهنّ في ليل اشتد ظلامه .. و ان كُنّ على مسيرة سبعين خريفا  بل و إن زاد ربيعا

قلتُ قد لَبِثْتَ ستين عاما وشهرا إنتصف عوده .. فاترك أهازيج الشباب إن الشيب قد أصاب منك حظا وفيرا

قال إن أصاب الوجه فذٰك وقاره ..  وإن اصاب القلب فما زاده الا حكمةً وجرأةَ فارس نبيلا

قلت فما بال الحناء ملأت وجهك كله .. فاصبحتَ أصهَبا بعد ان كنت اسمرا محمودا

اني قد عانق الشباب مني شَيْبَته … فأوْدَع عقلي حُلْماً وصبرا على نوائب الحياة كبيرا

واعلم ان  قلبي قد ارخى حبال سواريه في بحر لا قرار له … واشْرَأَبَّ الى الافق ارضا خيل اليه من سحرها جنةً ونعيما

فاذا بها سرابا من نبات البحر اجاجا طعمه … لا يسمن ولا يغني من جوع ولا بسرابه للربان بها نصيبا

فيا من قال ان الشباب شباب القلب حسبه …. ان القلب قد هرم ولحوراء العين كان سجينا ومتيما واسيرا

جهلت ما يجرني هنا مكبلا .. بين حرف و رسم و ضوءٍ مبين

ان ضَحِكَتْ  بدا وشماً متبسما .. وان غضبت تبدل الوشم واحمر الجبين

قيل ويحك كيف تناجي شبحا .. لم تره ولم تكن بصورته عليم

قلت ويحكم هل سمعتم صوتها … اعذب من غناء بلبل حنين

يا بيضاء الوجين عمت صباحا … اني قد قضيت الليل اناجي القرين

سالته هل من سبيل  لقلبها … قال انه نجم فهل لك في السماء معين

قلت انك عفريت فاعرج مسرعا… قال قد حماها ربي بشهاب رجيم

فنظرت في السماء متأملا … ورفعت يدي و ناديت يا اكرم الاكرمين

اني متيم بجارية طاب مجلسها … ولحديثها والله اني سجين

الهي لقد خلقتني بشرا … فكيف لي بذك النجم الدري الحصين

هل كتب لي  في الغيب لقاءها … ام جفت الاقلام قبل ذلك التدوين

فاصنع من عظمي ودمي قلما …  واكتب لي نظرةً ولو بعد حين

سألتها هل تعلمين بما اجن من الهوا … ‏قالت إنما انت  في خضم الملايين

قلت فما بال “‏يا رب” حين قلتها…  قالت إنما دعوت لجميع المسلمين

This piece is my contribution to the Kuwait Writing Club (KWC). The topic is “Choice”

“Cabin crew… seats for takeoff,” said the captain. After a few minutes, the sound of the seatbelt signals came on, indicating that the passengers can unbuckle. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Flight 554, non-stop service to Rome. The flight will be like heaven for first and business class passengers, and a living hell for the ones in economy. We will be flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet, at a ground speed of 950 kilometers per hour. The crew can make fun of you in 19 different languages. On behalf of this airline and our partners, I wish you to shut the fuck up and buckle up. You paid 500$; you did not split the atom. Those in the first and business classes… fuck you too.”

Yeah, as if I have a choice about it, I thought. Then I signaled to the air hostess and said, “I am not comfortable with 35,000 feet!! 10,000 would be nice, and tell the captain to stop over in Lebanon; I would love to have shisha and Kebbeh Naya in Faraya.” I was almost certain that she secretly thought, “When it’s your damn airplane, you can tell him so yourself!!! Silly economy passenger!” Instead, she smiled and said, “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

I believe choice is a synonym for life; we have to choose something almost every second – what to wear, what to say, what to eat, what to drink, and so on. However, choices vary; some are easy and some are very hard. Some we have time to think about and evaluate our options. In some cases, we only have a split second to choose the last action in our life. I can remember the horrifying situation during 9/11, where people had to choose between either burning in the flames or jumping to face a certain death.

I tried to take a nap, and before my brain was able to signal my body to relax and my eyes to close, I sensed danger. Something hit my shoulder; my eyes suddenly opened as wide as they could, my mouth was half open, my forehead wrinkled, and adrenaline worth a battlefield pumped into me. Then a flight attendant shouted, “Chicken or beef? We only have beef.” After comprehending that this aggressive gesture was only to get me to choose a meal, I thought I wanted to choose shoving the sandwich into his mouth to show him how beef tastes.

I thought that since he had scared the sleep out of me, I could see what choice I had in the entertainment system. I turned it on and it showed me the route map, but I noticed something strange – the airplane in the map was upside down!!! I pointed this out to the beef guy. It took him a minute to understand and then he said, “Seriously now?? Who the hell cares? Obviously, we ARE NOT FLYING UPSIDE DOWN!!” I did not care about him cursing; I was happy to have stepped on his nerves. I smiled and said, “We are not? Thank goodness! OK, listen, no beef, no touching, no nothing for me please.” I just wish he gets it in any of the 19 languages they speak, I thought to myself.

I took a nap, only to wake up with the airplane as quiet as a snow forest. It seemed too silent for a full flight. I looked through the window to see that we had not landed yet, and there was no sound of the engine. I could see two people wandering around the aisles. A man approached me and said, “Are you OK sir?” He also seemed puzzled; “My name is Marco” he said.

“Hasan,” I replied while shaking hands.

I stood up to see a lady checking every seat until she reached us, and said, “I guess it is only the three of us,” Her legs could not left her anymore, so she sat next to us.

“This does not make any sense! Is this a prank of some sort?”

I responded to her, “Did you check the captain cabin?”

“Yes, it is locked and no one is answering” she replied sharply.

“I do not think the captain is relevant now- the airplane is flying with the engine off! I seriously doubt that they have invented an engine that quite,” said Marco.

The lady looked concerned and nervous. I approached her and said, “Look at the bright side: we are experiencing something that we will talk about for the rest of our lives! I know people that would give up their lives to experience this mysterious adventure”

She said, “It would be, if I had a choice about it. What makes you so sure that we will live to tell the story?”

“I do not know to be honest, but I like to stay positive.”

Marco chimed in and said, “What is the common between all of us? Why us? I am from Italy; Maria told me she is from Spain, and you, Hasan?

“Kuwait,” I responded, thinking about the answer to his question, which is one we really need. “This is so weird,” I continued, then paused for a few seconds, “I can’t find my phone, my passport, my wallet, or my carryon!”

“Yes, the entire airplane is as clean as a whistle, except for the seats obviously. It is good we still have our clothes on.” Marco said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Maria rolled her eyes, “Yeah, Thank goodness for that.”

Then, I thought to myself, are these our clothes?? I reached for the tag on my T-shirt, I could not find it. I asked Maria and Marco to check and they could not find it either!

“Oh my God, do you think…” Maria started, paused, and then, “do you think we have been sexually assaulted?”

“Oh please, do not flatter yourself. Whoever they are, they can fly an airplane without an engine, and do you think they would be interested in you sexually?” I thought out loud in logic. “Seriously now, what was the last thing you remember?”

“I took a nap then woke up on this” Maria gestured to her entire surroundings.

“Me too,” Marco agreed.

“Me too. So something happened while we were sleeping… abducted maybe??”

Maria said, in her high-pitched voice, “By whom? What’s so special about us?

Suddenly, we felt like we were descending. We looked through the windows to see the wings of the airplane folding, until it was parallel to the airplane body and then disappeared.

“Did you see that?” I shouted.

“No engine, and now no wings, landing vertically! What a fucking waste, all we have learned about laws of physics, and gravity! Thank you Newton, but you can shove that apple up your ass now. This is either going to be so fascinating, or so damn disturbing.” Marco exclaimed in annoyance and then

“Oh my God, oh my God! What are they going to do with us?” Maria said frightened.

“Relax Maria; they took us from an airplane 35,000 feet above the ground- presumably-, they even duplicate our clothes for some reason. If they want to hurt us, they would have done that already; besides, I really doubt we could offer them anything that they do not have. I think this is going to be exciting!” I tried to comfort her using some more logic. I started to think I’m the only one that’s logical here.

As we were approaching the ground, watching through the window, we noticed markings on the ground. They were on a field so green- the kind of green you would see in a Claude Monet painting. The markings were made with water as blue as azurite stone, and as we touched down, we realized that the water that shapes the markings dissolved in the ground after a while then rise again to form different markings.

“For some reason, I can make sense out of these marking on the ground: it says this is the quarantine area,” I said in a puzzled, but interested, tone.

Marco nodded his head, “I have interpreted the same too.”

Even Maria said, “I have never seen these markings in my entire life, yet I could read it! They have messed up with our brains!”

“I just love this ‘mess-up’,” I said with amusement in my voice.

Soon after, the airplane door opened and a smell wafted in, making all of us take deeper and deeper breaths with our eyes closed, since with each breath, one could feel a peace suited to a yoga master on his best day.

Then a woman came in and said, “My name is Taliweta, Welcome to the city of Atlantis”

“Oh, they are Arabs”, I whispered to Marco and Maria, my heart was dancing with joy, thinking that I have the advantage of communication.

“This is clearly Spanish, a Castilian, my mother tongue. It is not Arabic,” Maria replied.

“Grazie Signora, sei cosi bella, Italian angel,” Marco blessed himself while kneeling.

She spoke in a language all of us thought was their own, and she looked at us in a way everyone thought that she was looking at them in the eye. The color of her eyes, hair, skin and lips change according to light and surroundings in a perfect way. She has the most positive energy field I have ever encountered, I could not look away, could not even blink.

“She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life,” Maria said.

“That must be something, huh? I mean convinced out loud by a woman,” Marco whispered to me while smiling.

The three of us- Marco, Maria, and I-stepped out of the plane, and it was at ground level; however, the plain seemed to have gone underground or dissolved in land. As soon as I set foot on that field, I felt that I’m lighter somehow, healthier maybe. The grass was so green I could not help my self to reach for the ground and feel it. As soon as I touched it, I felt like it was talking and welcoming me. I felt its beautiful smell through my hand: it was softer than silk and smoother than cream. It was alive. I felt it covering my hand and going through my fingers, cuddling, and I felt its love. I stood up and took my shoes off to see how it feels like bare foot, and as I thought, it was a whole different experience. I felt like walking on the clouds, on air, in space, yet maintained full gravity.

While we were exploring the tip of the iceberg of what Atlantis has to impress us, Taliweta was observing with a smile, and then I heard a very clear soft voice of Taliweta saying, “Since you discovered your way to the sky, building and advancing airplanes, we were monitoring the sky, because for one, we need to make sure that we are not discovered, and two, fix any malfunction in your airplanes. Only the three of you noticed that the airplane was upside down on the map while we were fixing the engine, and we thought to give you an opportunity to live in Atlantis. It has nothing to do with your nap or the beef. And by the way, that beef guy was rude and he had chicken.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling.

Then she said, “It is a choice, and it’s yours. Would you like to live in Atlantis?”

Maria was taken aback with Taliweta’s statement, “Do you think they won’t miss us? Three people just vanishing! This is the Internet and social media age; you can’t hide such a thing. We checked in an airplane and all the cameras in the airport filmed us; therefore, there are so many witnesses. How?”

“Three? No, although we are giving you the choice, we know that only one of you will consider staying.”

“Can I download the latest albums of Metallica if I decide to stay?” I ask her curiously.

“In Atlantis we feel the music rather hearing it,” Taliweta smiled a beautiful soft smile.

She offered me something that looks like an ear bud and I placed it on my right ear. I felt the music inside of me, the sound was within; it did not matter that it was only from one ear. I could feel and hear the sound so crisp and clear. It felt like I was listening from my heart. I felt the sound running in my veins. I closed my eyes, trying to truly feel and enjoy it.

“Open your eye, reality is more beautiful than your imagination,” She said. I opened my eyes, and sure enough, the music was a perfect match to what I was seeing. It was like I’m in the middle of the music video for that music piece.

“Since the rhythm runs through your blood, your whole body interacts with it- your eyes as you just experienced, your hands and legs are ready to perform the perfect dance for that rhythm; just start to dance and your body will take over.”

I felt like running, and as soon as I did, the music changed to match my activity. I felt like ‘Rocky Movie’ in going that distance scene, it was so amazingly real. Then I thought that I must be the one who is staying. I mean, I want to know more about Atlantis, I approached her and said.

“About that choice… Which one of us is going to stay? You said you know that already?”

“Revealing this information sometimes disturbs the echo around it,” Taliweta answered, “Telling you who is staying would never change the ‘who’, just the ‘How’.”

“Angel, I could team up with Mr. ‘sound of the music’ happy barefoot,” Marco said, pointing at me, “ we decide to stay and prove you wrong.”

“You could; however, that does not contradict the fact that only one of you actually wishes to stay…” She answered Marco in her angelic voice.

“Mamamia If you know or can predict our choices, then you would know each other’s choices too. For example, Atlantian women ‘God Bless that beauty’ does not need to say ‘it’s either me or her you have to choose!’ They would either slap or kiss him. Life would be much easier, I’ll tell you that, I promise you Taliweta you will always kiss me” Marco said while smiling.

“Not really; with a similar ability to process choices, it’s hard to predict,” Taliweta said.

“But, how do you know? It’s not some psychic bullshit, is it?” Marco asked her.

She began, “To understand how we can predict your choices, let me explain the choice process:

It is a complex analysis process that takes place within the soul, considering information such as history, religion, society, education, family, health, ideology, politics, social status, hobbies, interests, love, etc., plus your personal intellectual ability to process these data and reach a decision to choose. And since we were observing your world for centuries, we know more about you than you would ever know; that adds to our advanced analysis abilities that make your choices predictable even though you are free to choose.”

“The soul? Not the brain or the heart?” I wondered

“Yes, the soul. The brain orchestrates body parts, and it’s not the heart because with an artificial heart, people still think.  It is the soul where all innovations are taking place.”

“I do not see any gadgets, electronics, or screens. You know the high tech stuff? How did bring us here?” Maria asked.

Taliweta said, “Let’s say that we choose to do it the easy way. Your world was, and still is, blinded by the industrial revelation, and thinks that everything is ought to be done following laws of physics, chemistry, etc., only to limit and restrict creativity and innovation and direct or rather funnel your thoughts. When we were designing the flying machine, we simply thought how to ride air the same way we ride water. We did not try to escape gravity. Instead, we eliminated it.

How do you think we moved those bricks to build the pyramids in Egypt? Electronics and high-tech gadgets, as you call it, are not a sign of evolution, advancement, future or even modernization. It is just another era of natural resources drainage and consuming. One day, not too far from now, you will be forced to stop this technology because it will be, again, too expensive to make. And the economy that is still industrial will collapse and the time of horses and carriages will return.”

“Assuming you are right,” I said.

“I am right,” Taliweta interrupted smiling.

“We did not have a choice. I mean, in our world, this chain of events in the 20th century, and the evolution of electricity, electronics, and digital technology and so on, it was fate the whole world was involved. I mean-”

“If you go high enough, it is always a decision of one person,” she interrupted again, looking at me with a straight face.

“You are not going religious on me now, are you? Do you mean God?!” I replied in surprise.

“No, I mean it is always a decision, or a choice, of one person, a human. And people follow blindly; that is why your world is in a huge mess. If it is up to nature and fate, it would have been perfect.”

“Who?” Marco and Maria asked in sync, and I was silently anticipating the answer

“Only the one who chooses to stay will know,” she answered smiling, and as she was saying this, the water that was forming the markings hovering the grass formed in a pyramid shape in front of all of us, well as Taliweta.

We were surprised but we didn’t freak out. The markings on the pyramid said, ‘Touch to return, Sip to stay’. I looked towards Taliweta; she leaned towards it and sipped. She turned into water, fell on the ground, and disappeared along with the pyramid. Marco and Maria touched the water, and then the pyramid got bigger and trapped them inside. They were drowning- I rushed, trying to save them. I reached my hand into the water, and I could touch Maria, she reached out her hand outside of the water, and with all the strength I have, I pulled, yet I was not able to get her out. After a few seconds, she let go of my hand, and floated in the pyramid, unconscious. I looked at Marco and it was too late- He was also floating unconscious.

I looked around I shouted Taliweta’s name, but there was nothing but meadows, the water markings on the grass, and my pyramid water following me. Soon after, Marco and Maria dissolved into the grass the same way Taliweta did.

I thought, this could be the last choice of my life- should I sip from my pyramid, touch it, or just wait for fate? I decided to sip. Suddenly, my whole body was paralyzed. I remember it was some kind of a vision; I was able to see Marco and Maria, each in their seats on the airplane, chatting and laughing, and I saw my seat empty. The scene changed and I saw the plane crashing down in the Mediterranean, just before it reached Rome. I wasn’t able to wave, shout, or blink. It was so disturbing that I lost my breath.

When I regained my senses, I found myself in Las Vegas, in the middle of the strip, standing. I was trying to avoid people hitting me, and I felt dizzy. I leaned my back on a building wall, trying to catch a breath, and then someone offered me a flyer. I said ‘no thanks’ he insisted, I took it just to get rid of him, and something about it caught my eye; the flyer had Atlantis markings. They read, ‘You are now invisible, you wanted to know who controls it all, huh? Now that you sipped from the Atlantian water, look up; see the lights of Vegas…’

I looked up and my eyes opened twice its size, my mouth as wide as a giant burger, goosebumps as sharp as an urchin.

 

 

صحوت فإذا برسالةٍ من صديقٍ للقلبِ قريب

تقولُ “صباحك عسل” من غيرِ سلامٍ ولا تمهيد

فقلتُ لكم مثلهُ و تينٍ و رمانٍ و ما لذَّ من الثريد

والبسكم الله اثوابَ الصحةِ وامدكمْ بالعمرِ المديد

ورزقكمْ من مُلكهِ ِبكُلِّ ما هو ثمينٌ و نبيلٌ و جديد

وغَسَلَ قلبكمْ بالرضا والقناعةِ و الماءِ والبردِ والجليد

ووهبكم ما أسررتم به وما أعلنتم وأكرمكمْ بالمزيد

وزادكمْ من علمهِ وايدكمْ بالرأي الحكيمِ الفريد

هذا وإِن عجِزَ اللسانُ عنْ قَولِ العديد

فاعلموا أن ما في القلب من حُبِّكُمْ عن الشُّحِ بعيد

أرسلتها وَ كُــلِّـي شَوْقٌ لما يُـرَدُ على هذا الكلامِ الحميد

قالت “ثانكس” وَرَسَمَتْ وجها أصلعَ الرأسِ لبيد

أَبْصَرْتُ ردها فقلتُ هل أَصبحنا لِلُغةِ الاجانِبِ عبيد؟

أَم أَن ماقيلَ لم يكنْ من البلاغةِ أَو المعنى بالسديد؟

إِذْ لَمْ يَحْضَ إلا ب “ثانكس” وحيد

فَقُلْتُ والله ما أُجيد غيرهُ .. هذا ما يَجُودُ به قلبي و يُعيد

فأَلتمسُ العُذْر مِنْكُمْ إن مقامكم مِمَّا قِيلَ بعيد

إن جَمالَكُمْ بَحْرا كلما رَكِبَهُ شاعرٌ قالَ هل مِنْ مزيد

فيا أَصحابَ المعلقاتِ مَنْ يَركَبْ أمواجَ بَحرِها اللُّجِّي العنيد

إِنتظرت ُحتى أسْدَلَ الليلُ أستاره ولم يبرزُ رجلٌ رشيد

أردتُ قولَ المزيدَ لكن النعاسَ جال في جسمي مجال الدم في الوريد

فارسلت لها تُصْبِحينَ على مَنٍّ وسَلْوى يأتيكِ من السماء مديد

فأجابت اليس هذا ما اُسْتُعيضَ به بَصلاً وَثوماً وشيأً من لحمٍِ قديد ؟

فَتَبسَّمْتُ مُتَهَكِّماً وَقلتُ سُبحانَ ربي ما هذا العقل البليد؟

أَدعو لكِ من أطيب ما جادت به السماء لبشر و تقولين من ذك لا اريد

لعمري ان إبْليس يَئِسَ أن ياتي بمثل صنيعكِ فلكِ ما كان لِبَنوا إسرائيل من الوعيد

تصبحين على ما تنبت الارض من حنضلٍ وشوكٍ وما هو أصلدُ من الحديد

قالت سبحان ربي لمزحة بحثتَ وحكمتَ وقضيتَ وابدلتَ النعيمَ بالوعيد

أين رجاحةُ العقلِ أين الحكمةَ أينَ القوامة أين الحلمَ أين الرأيُ السديد

لله درك يا بلقيس حقنت دماء قومك بحكمة اعرض الرجال عنها وقالوا هذا جديد

فيا حبذا ان تصبح على حميما وغساقا وقليلا من ماء الصديد

تجرعه زقوما يغلي به دماغك ويقطع الامعاء منك وحبل الوريد

هذا جزاء من تهكم يظن ان حلو كلامه يقيه من غيظ النساء الشديد

قلت ويحي من ايقض هذا الغول صاحب الصوت الكديد

لعمري ان لسانها شجاع اقرع ذا قرنين كانه كعود الجريد

قيل ان النساء شر لا بد منه قلت نعم… والله هذا بيت القصيد

آليت الحكمة و وكظم الغيض والرد باطيب الكلام وعذب الاناشيد

فقلت ان الزقوم والحميم منك نعيما والشهد لدي من ذاك الصديد

اذا رايتك عمت عيني من نورك وتمزقت احشائي وانقطع ذك الوريد

واعلمي ان روحي قد فارقتني يوم لقاءنا و آثرت ان تكون لروحك عضيد

فان اصبحتُ ميتاً كما تمنيتِ فاعلمي أني جسد شاءت روحه ان تحيد

قالت افرغت من عذب الحديث ومبتذله إني اشفق عليك ان تبيد

ان الرجل حِلْيَتُهُ الجد فكفاك دجلا ان الليل قصير فلا اريد المزيد

قد غفرت لك ما بدر منك من سوء ظن وقصر نظر ونقص حكمة وغباء شديد

فقلت في نفسي انها تختلف عن النساء انها لعمري شيطان مريد

خشيت ان اكون اسير مخالبها او ان يلسعني ذك الثعبان الجريد

فَهَمَسْتُ لروحي ان تعود لجسدي وتفر من قبضة ذاك المخلوق المبيد

و قلت ختاما فارا خائفاً سلام من الله عليك ايتها المرأة الحديد

This piece is my contribution to KWC (Kuwait Writers Club). The topic consists of 3 words (Puppet, Blood and Lighter)

“That was a good meal”, I said, after having dinner at a local diner that has a view of a parking lot. If Kuwait is an ant colony, then ants are the restaurants and the queen is the trendy one of that time. People would wait for hours to get a Falafel sandwich that was given a fancy name, something like “Fal Rojas” or “Clair de Fal”. So, all of a sudden, this 50-cent falafel sandwich is the trend and sold for $15 as the original Fal Rojas. However, if you want the super Clair de Fal you have to pay an extra $5for the special “La Gallo” sauce which is in reality a 25-cent hot sauce giving the red rooster on the bottle a spiky hair style and a nose job. But I am not here to judge, so hey, if it makes them happy, that is what matters really.

I signaled to the waiter that I wanted the check. It is probably the only sign language I am really good at. The check arrived. It is always a unique moment because every restaurant tries to innovate with the check presentation; some put it in a book, which tells a story, …once upon a time there were hungry people…, others put it in a fancy box, as if you’re on a treasure hunt mission, some put it in a tin can, to be bohemian cool. This time, however, it was a traditional booklet with a credit card pocket on the right. I opened it and there was that piece of paper with some numbers. I was casually checking the total. Then my eyes got blurry and I blinked a few times, and then checked it again. It said “Grendizer”, then changed to “Sindbad” and then to “Puppet”. I know I am looking at a piece of paper, and I know that technology has not got that far yet, at least not to a Falafel joint in Kuwait! I closed the booklet and took a glimpse around to see if anything strange, opened the booklet again and saw “Puppet1972” then I thought holy crap… these are the passwords I usually use! Then a question appeared: “break the leg of the chair on the other table”? with 2 check marks “Yes and No”. A man was sitting on that chair and as soon as I selected Yes it broke! He fell on his back and hit his head on the kerb stone. He was bleeding. His blood, mixed with the water that was in his glass, made it look like a bloodbath. All panicked, I froze. I took the booklet and slowly approached the man. By then, everyone was trying to help, but he was breathless and wanted to say something which only the people next to him were able to hear. I asked him in a clear voice what he said. The man said something which felt very strange. I think he said “Puppet” …

Oh, please do not judge me. But who would pick “No” in a weird receipt paper claiming to control matters? Who would want to miss the excitement? Who would not be interested to know what would happen if they selected Yes”? I had no idea he would die in front of his wife.

I rushed to my car, closed the door and took a few seconds trying to comprehend it all. And then someone was banging on the car window; it scared the shit out of me. It was the waiter. “You did not pay sir”, said he. Too terrified to open the booklet, I guessed the total and payed double, saying, “keep the change please, sorry about that” with a smile that was harder for me to fake than proving the theory of relativity. “You forgot your lighter Sir. Here it is. Thank you, come again”, said he, and walked away. I do not smoke and therefore do not keep a lighter on me, but that was the least of my worries.

I opened the booklet. It said, “Want to fly?” And yet again “Yes” and “No” flashed. I closed it and opened it again, but the same question stared back at me. I have seen what this booklet is capable of, and it is giving me the opportunity to live the everlasting dream of humanity. I drove away cursing and thinking of the man who had just died. Then I looked again at the booklet on the passenger seat. Try as hard as I might, I Could not take the word “fly” out of my mind. So, I pulled over from the highway, and I clicked on “Yes”! . And the next moment, I was levitating like I was sitting on a cushion of air, floating. I stepped out of the car to see how it feels standing, I could walk normally, but if I wished I could lean and I could move, just like being on a mind-driven invisible Segway. I walked back to the car hoping that nobody saw me flying. “I have to keep it to myself for now, seriously whom should I tell?” How would I explain my floatation? They would eventually link it back to the accident in the restaurant because I was there and had fled the scene without paying. Having the check booklet on me now would be enough incriminating evidence for a death sentence; an eye for an eye and blood for blood.

Back in the car flying with joy literally, I opened the booklet and this time there were two questions. The first one was “a small accident (Yes/No)” and the second, “$ 3 million? (Yes/No).

I jumped to the second question and hammered the “Yes”. Only this time the question did not disappear like every other time before and nothing happened. So, I clicked on “No” for the “small accident” question to see both questions disappear. I closed the booklet in frustration and opened it again to see another set of 2 questions, “smaller accident” and “1 Million $”.   I knew the drill by now. This thing wants me to agree to both.

I clicked on yes for both. I mean what harm could a smaller accident bring? I was waiting for it, anytime for something to happen to me. Instead I saw that a bumper-to-bumper accident had occurred a bit ahead of where I had pulled over. As soon as they pulled over to exchange insurance information, I thought, “Thank goodness they are fine; it is the smaller accident”, and went back to checking the money and the sight of a million Dollars.

“That was indeed a good meal”, I thought to myself, while watching the 2 gentlemen smiling, and just as I was smiling along, and it appeared that they had reached an understanding, a ball was bouncing and a kid immediately followed to catch it. An 18-wheeler tried to avoid the kid and hit the 2 cars full speed. The kid picked up the ball only to see another car trying to avoid him but in the other direction to hit another car that caused it to spin and resulted in a 7-car pileup, while the 18 wheeler continued to drag the 2 cars till its tanker, flipped  and dragged on the street till finally everything stopped.

“I signed up for a smaller accident, this is just fate”! I kept telling myself. I fell sick to my stomach. All my senses were overwhelmed with emotions, looking at people getting out of their cars calling checking, looking… I tilted my head down and closed my eyes. I was breathing heavily. I opened my eyes again to see the lighter. I decided to burn the booklet, so I stepped out and heard a voice shouting, “Are you alright?” I signaled him that I was fine. Then, I lighted up the lighter to burn the booklet. Blood red flames rose up and attacked the booklet on my other hand. I panicked and let go of both to fall on the ground and that’s when both turned into dust that was curried by very worm breeze into a car involved in the accident, i rushed to it realizing that the floatation abilities is fading i reached the car to see a man coughing the same dust and saying “puppet” and pointing at me, I closed the passenger door and noticed some text on the side mirror, I came closer to see (in the mirror) the dead man from the restaurant walking towards me, I turned to check and it was the kid ! The mirror was reflecting another image of the kid. The questions on the mirror read: 1. “Kill All Puppets” (Yes/No) and 2. Super Powers (Yes/No). I clicked yes for both, every thing disappeared as if there were no accident and I found myself where I was in the middle of the highway, few meters from the 18 wheelers coming right at me full speed!