#tansheer
Alexandria tugged silver sardines onto the shore
a disappointment she witnessed by the sand
an hour spent in wait
for the net to reach land
by the transgressing microbuses
coughing death into her sea,
we waited and watched
and tiny silver sardines twinkled
under the clouded sky,
I worshipped her
while watching her shake
from utter disappointment.I cried elegies for my city
when a woman with a tied up head
lost a shoe to a puddle by tramVictoria,
granny begging in brown chuckled
sense of humor alive
despite the cataract clouding her life
and the grit in her crumbling teeth.My people have nothing but Allah
and comedy
keeping them sane.A boy who spoke emotional tales of science
muttered fears between sedative clouds.
On her boulders he rummaged
through theories to back up all of God,
and I understood my self,
the events around
and inside of us
were beginning to make sense.Give me one day
where I need not maneuver cautiously
through my own streets,
no mother’s-body-part cussing
in the name of Allah and vindicated manhood.
One day without dreams of meat
being unrealistic, one day
without the hunger that’s lead to animal methods
of survival, immorality normalized.Protect me for one day, Alexandria,
carry me through your moody Sea,
don’t let me drown—
Don’t drown me,
don’t drown me, Alexandria.—
naira badawi
