Trifid Nebula

by NORHAN ZAHER

(I dream, sir, of the routes of my childhood
of braiding my hair,
taking off my shoes
and returning
to the old neighborhood
we grew up in

I dream of a handful
of our lost childish dreams
and childish frights
when we’d sneak into
abandoned houses,
hide from the old
tooth-less man
and hold our breath
as he shouts
endless threats
of how he’d tell our parents
and how the house was alive
and hungry

Oh, how do I long
to walk the soils of childhood again
with you.)

—

We’ve lost some of our innocence
we’ve changed;

Neither will you return
to compare my eyes to
Trifid Nebula

nor will we once again believe
in miracles till illusion,
in love till rebellion
and in dreams
till foolishness

The future
we once measured
in lights years
has outlived us

As we sat
in our separate balconies
you, painting a sky without a sun
and me, a sun without light

Do you still go back to
these ancient houses?
walk among the ruins alone?
visit the old man’s grave
and curse as you trip over
the uneven broken roads
you once knew so well?

you told me once that
all roads lead to Rome
and all rivers pour into
the same ocean

yet we grew to understand
differently

for, after all, it was
lovers that roads swallow
not paths

(I dream, sir, of the routes to you
and my childhood
for reality has destroyed the virtuous cities
in me and you)

*Trifid Nebula: A ‘stellar nursery’ full of embryonic stars, it is where new stars are born.