Evening in details
Ms. Mishka Mojabber Mourani read excerpts from her book "Alone, Together" to the seniors on Monday June 4 from 6:30 till 7:30 PM in the Hariri School of Nursing
Alone, Together
Mishka was living in Sydney, Australia and moved back to Lebanon, where she has witnessed the Lebanese war. Aida was living in Greece and moved to Washington DC, United States. It could not be more difficult for these two poets to meet, yet poetry brought them together through Mishka’s book “Lest We Forget: Lebanon 1975-1990”, which caught Aida’s eye and which she translated it to Arabic. Years later, Mishka traveled to meet Aida, who shared with her a selection of her poems. Moved, Mishka ended up translating them to English.
The book talks about these two ladies' journeys and reflections, as best said by Miskha in the introduction to “Alone, Together”: "both of us have been on long and tortuous journeys. We have navigated the seas of war and loss of many sorts, and our ports of call have lacked permanence. We have assumed identities and abandoned them. Perhaps …this book will shed some light on who we are. I have reveled in this virtual conversation, you in Arabic from the US, and I in English from Lebanon. And the journey continues…"
For Hala and Samer
- These screeches for fire-cover in the streets,
- This rain of shells upon the things we own,
- These stalkers who break in
- Through our very walls,
- To foul our homes,
- Cannot belong to this,
- Our world of children,
- Albeit scared,
- Their eyes round,
- Their fingers in their ears,
- Crouching in corners,
- Feeling adult fears.