“From Damascus, horses begin their journey And the stirrups are tightened for the great conquest From Damascus, eternity begins . . . and with her Languages remain and genealogies are preserved And Damascus gives Arabism its form And on its land, epochs materialize.”
—Nizar Qabbani Writtenand photographed by Dahlia Dandashi
Design and collage by Sabrina Sommer
DIRTY POEM
The laundry is sticky and hot and in love.
They all drip and cry in unison Their wet guts, spinning drunk and dizzy.
They are spineless, foolish creatures Who kiss and kiss in the love machine.
The timer goes off.
The clothes may no longer be dirty But they are the dirtiest I’ve ever seen.
You know
If we moved somewhere else, We wouldn’t have a dryer
We could effortlessly fold into one another And air out our filthy laundry on the balcony
For the whole neighborhood to see.
G TRAIN / HOLY FUCK
What a sad way to part from one another Without planes Or trains Or buses
To blame as an excuse for our departure.
You feel so far
Yet we are closer than we’ve ever been. But Holy Fuck This Is Over -
Make me forget the Dahlia I sleep with The Dahlia I bathe with The Dahlia I pray with The Dahlia I kiss before I dream.
The truth is I come in many in blushes But not one is one I seem to like.
I am sometimes capricious And constantly bewildered
And when I ask Bodega Man why everything is the way it is And why I feel the way that I do He simply shrugs his shoulders And bites into his sandwich.
