Author Archives: tamolantern@gmail.com

You Can’t They will fall in the end, those who say you can’t. It’ll be age or boredom that overtakes them, or lack of imagination. Sooner or later, all leaves fall to the ground. You can be the last leaf. You … Continue reading →

Midnight   The spirits are not fooled by my faked sleep, my regular breathing; the magic animations do not take place. I wait for the window to tear off its bandages, cured of its blindness, the tape recorder to fall … Continue reading →

Home Homes have no walls No rooms, no furniture, no thresholds Nothing through which you might enter And nothing from which you might want to exit Because homes are not houses Homes are built in the eyes Erected by naked, … Continue reading →

Housekeeping We mourn the broken things, chair legs wrenched from the seats, chipped plates, the threadbare clothes. We work the magic of glue, drive the nails, mend the holes. We save what we can, melt small pieces of soap, gather … Continue reading →

  Consider the Hands that Write this Letter Consider the hands that write this letter. Left palm pressed flat against paper, as we have done before, over my heart, in peace or reverence to the sea, some beautiful thing I … Continue reading →

Goodbye, Lebanon Goodbye, Lebanese mountains. I’m going far from your pink rose garlands, your bright red satin strawberries. Egypt called in a serious voice, and already my rocking boat bears new fruit – But sea, whisper your lullabies please, because … Continue reading →

The Obligation to Be Happy It is more onerous than the rites of beauty or housework, harder than love. But you expect if of me casually, the way you expect the sun to come up, not in spite of rain … Continue reading →

Getting Older The first surprise: I like it. Whatever happens now, some things that used to terrify have not: I didn’t die young, for instance. Or lose my only love. My three children never had to run away from anyone. … Continue reading →