Whispers of My Heart to Haifa

Yemenat

Ahmed Saif Hashed

Haifa, I have always wished to be a tear of sorrow in the corner of your eye, a faint shadow of grief on your dreaming face. Sadness, too, makes your eyes shine and bewitch; it lends your features a deeper beauty and irresistible charm. Those who adore you ache with longing, and their devotion only adds to your radiance in their eyes. How wonderful it would be to share your sorrow and find blessing in it. Who among us is without sorrow?

I wished to be a lock of hair in the parting of your tresses, to fly beyond orbit, to travel to distant reaches, to ascend with you to the sky. Together we would explore the unknowns written for us, what the Merciful has inscribed with pen and tablet, and answer every question.

I still remember when you parted your braids into two, one to the right and one to the left, and I stood between the strands and plaits, nailed by the question: why not let your hair loose to the wind, the sea, and the breezes? I search for you in every space, after every lesson and every class, like letters that have wandered from their words and words searching for their missing dots. Without you, letters are neither salt nor honey; they have no taste. There is no poetry in poetry, no ardor, no verse in love.

When I see you flow, my springs become waterfalls, rivers, and streams seeking your soil, your homeland, your sorrows. Without struggle you captivate all five of my senses from A to Z. Because of you I season things; by your flavor the heavens open their lungs to breathe your scent. Your radiant presence returns sunrise, light, and joy to my dusk and decline. Your taste