Rofida

“فإذا وضعتُ هَمِّي بقلبِكَ.. ووضعتَ همَّكَ بقلبي..هل تستحيل الهموم لدى القلبين راحةً.. أم تأكلُ القلبين فداحةُ الأوجاعِ ؟”
― راقية جلال دويك

“للأبد ؟
ـ ماذا ؟
ـ ستظل تحبني للأبد ؟
ـ حتى تحترق النجوم وحتى ..
تفنى العوالم ..

حتى تتصادم الكواكب، وتذبل الشموس ..
وحتى ينطفئ القمر، وتجف البِحار والأنهار ..

حتى أشيخ فتتآكل ذكرياتي..
حتى يعجز لساني عن لفظ اسمك..
حتى ينبض قلبي للمرة الأخيرة ..

فقط عند ذلك ربما أتوقف
ربما ..”
― أحمد خالد توفيق

“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin sandles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.”
― Jenny Joseph, Warning: When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

“It is never too late to be wise.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe