-1Who

Wants French Cigarettes in Syria?

My aunt smokes Gualoises. Her sister, Souray'a, died without a word. They lived in the same building, two floors apart. My aunt talks to her sister in her sleep. People pass without much significance. Street vendors yell. I walk the streets at my own peril. My American look invites the salesmen in Sol'hee'a to sell me blue jeans. Joseph lived next to Sol'hee'a, in Sha'alon, sipped tea on his balcony and watched people scurry below. We competed, among other men, single and married, for Lidia. Lidia dances in clubs where owners give her free drinks. She sways, they hold her hips, she briefly presses her breasts against them, only to turn her cheek and anger them with her absence. If the Arab Spring burns Syria to the ground, Lidia will dance in the rubble, bombs and bullets whizzing past her head. I wonder about my aunt's days in Paris, before she wore the hijab. If she danced, she danced that private Arab Dance. Is that how she met her husband? Mam'door, her husband, no longer speaks French. He buys me Arabic newspapers and pictures of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. -Sword of Religion How do you feel about Mam'door and Lidia? Are they protagonists or antagonists? Do they work as foils? Drop a line in the comment box below. Help a starving artist! Share "America" on facebook by using the readcast button on

the left column. That way, I will be able to focus on writing you more quality content. Read more of my poetry, ordered by what I think is the best quality: 1. America Talks to Her Son, Manhattan 2. Who Wants French Cigarettes in Syria? 3. Adoption: That Self Inside Myself You Are Missing 4. Ireland as a Metaphor for Poetry 5. Comas Dripping (very abstract, so sit with it for awhile) 6. Your Name is Jessica Claire 7. Katherine's the Baddest Baby on the Block 8. Marlboros Join the 27 Club 9. Lobster Season in Massachusetts 10. 9 Men Up for the Red Sox (vs. the Yankees) 11. Blue is the Color of Our Love (after e.e. cummings "i carry your heart with me") 12. Between the Mountains and the Sea 13. Manhattan Talks to His Son, the Concrete (to be read in conjunction with "America Talks to Her Son, Manhattan") 14. Daffodils Wither in the Sink(after William Carlos William's "The Red Wheel Barrow") 15. Age (after Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee") 16. Love XXV (after Khalil Gibran Khalil's "Beauty XXV") 17. Arab Women and the Arab Spring 18. For Lost Love: Arab Fruit 19. For Brailey 20. The Mona Lisa and the Quran 21. Becca Walks like Rain 22. Love is Not a Heard Emotion (after Spike Mulligan's "A Silly Poem") Or read by my alter egos

Dean O.
1. America Talks to Her Son, Manhattan 2. Adoption: That Self Inside Myself You Are Missing 3. Ireland as a Metaphor for Poetry 4. Comas Dripping 5. Your Name is Jessica Claire 6. Katherine's the Baddest Baby on the Block 7. Marlboros Join the 27 Club 8. Lobster Season in Massachusetts 9. 9 Men Up for the Red Sox (vs. the Yankees)

10. Manhattan Talks to His Son, the Concrete (to be read in conjunction with "America Talks to Her Son, Manhattan") 11. For Brailey 12. Becca Walks like Rain

Sword of Religion
1. Who Wants French Cigarettes in Syria? 2. Between the Mountains and the Sea 3. Arab Women and the Arab Spring 4. For Lost Love: Arab Fruit 5. The Mona Lisa and the Quran

Safe Imitation
1. Blue is the Color of Our Love (after e.e. cummings' "i carry your heart with me") 2. Daffodils Wither in the Sink (after William Carlos William's "The Red Wheel Barrow") 3. Age (after Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee") 4. Love XXV (after Khalil Gibran Khalil's "Beauty XXV"') 5. Love is Not a Hard Emotion (after Spike Mulligan's "A Silly Poem") If you made it this far, congratulations! I love you. Spread the good word.