“In sickness and in health
till death do us part”
She exploded in my heart
threw me off my feet
Across a living room filled
with nights only she can host
I spoke of her to those across the world
who will never experience what it is
to fall for a city
it is beyond patriotism
this ineffable love for a sleepless phenomenon
who homes strangers
shook the world
with shockwaves
that equaled the chemical imbalance
its people have for their city
Under the debris of sparkling glass
she was broken
there’s so much she can withstand
even when we always stand by her side
shards engrave themselves under thick skin
poking at the body that still believes in love at first breath
At a heart that does not know how to stop
At a will-power that questions its creator about its strength
At a body that homes an identity beyond this world
alien to it
toxicity hovered in lungs
And across skies
blushing clouds
turning them pink
Sunset wasn’t serene
The ocean cradled bodies
on their way to the afterlife
They cried salty tears
Fed up.
Her soil has felt the stomping anger of grieving mothers, fathers, husbands
families
the last words of suffocating victims who never lost hope till
The angels opened the doors of the sky
To welcome new brave souls into the heavens
to lead by example
their white coffins
wed the earth with the skies
they watch over us
Brooms brushed her face
Hands held others
Homes homed
Revolutionists revolted
Nooses were hung
judgment day is knocking
at our hearts
and mind you, we are known
for our hospitality
She cannot cry
She never did
It never suited her
But she sure knows how to roar
how to devour
parasites feeding at her immortality
I wear your ring around my finger
“In sickness and in health
till nothing does us part”
To Beirut,
To August 4, 2020, 6:10 pm
To its people
To its everything