Sereen Assi

“It wasn’t long after that when I went into the quiet blue, that place without time, where I could soak up all the juices of life and let them run through me like a river.”
― Susan Abulhawa, The Blue Between Sky and Water

“Be my lover between two wars waged in the mirror, she said.
I don't want to return now to the fortress of my father's house.
Take me to your vineyard.
Let me meet your mother.
Perfume me with basil water.
Arrange me on silver dishes, comb me,
imprison me in your name,
let love kill me.”
― Mahmoud Darwish, Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems

“فتشتُ عن نفسي : سلامٌ للذين أحبهم عبثًا
سلامٌ للذين يضيئهم جرحي”
― Mahmoud Darwish, هي أغنية، هي أغنية

“يقولُ السائقُ العصبيُّ: ها نحن
اقتربنا من محطتنا الأخيرة’ فاستعدوا
للنزول.../
فيصرخون: نريدُ ما بَعْدَ المحطَّةِ’
فانطلق!
أمَّا أنا فأقولُ: أنْزِلْني هنا . أنا
مثلهم لا شيء يعجبني ’ ولكني تعبتُ
من السِّفَرْ.”
― Mahmoud Darwish