Sea Turtle Sonnet - Zeina Hashem Beck

Our parents stayed during the civil war.
Don’t say we escaped, just that we too failed.
We left Beirut on the verge of collapse
& revolution. That clearing of hope,
where would we be without it? Ask Ziad,

The Unknown Snipers - Boghos L. Artinian

I will never know
how many times snipers had had me
clearly in their view,

A royal epitaph - Eshmunazar II

I have departed hence,

And am no more forever.

Like the day I vanished,

Hath my spirit faded from the world,

And my voice

Ceased from sounding in the ears of men.

Nothing but a man - Nadia Tueni

Nothing but a man

let's execute him against the door.

Living All By Herself Without You - Ziad Rahbani

Living all by herself without you

And without your love, my boy

Quit talking about your love for her

The whole country is laughing at you

Who Will Buy Me Certainty? - Hanane Aad

I am the Eternally Anxious One

Who will buy me certainty?

Where can I obtain the serenity of silence?

Omri Kello - Wael Kfoury

Oh love go tell her

tell her I miss her so much,

if she wants my life

I'll give it away.

Hiyam - Zeina Hashem Beck

My grandmother, Hiyam, whose name

means love, had none, gave none. Locked

her refrigerator door so her children wouldn’t

make a mess in the kitchen, sat them down,

Iconic Existence - Roula-Maria Dib

Keep her locked in an eternal smile, that loving gaze

you see in your mind’s mined cave deep within your Self,

or in the symbol on the solid wooden surface.

Let her sing, but from her nether-world into yours.

She Has Wilted Early - Julia Boutros

This flower … 

has wilted early, 

she’s still pretty, 

she’s still very pretty

I'm Calling You - Ahmed Kaabour

I'm calling you¹

I shake your hands

I kiss the ground beneath your feet²

And say, "I will redeem you"³

The bus song - Ziad Rahbani

By the roar of the bus we travelled
from the village of Himlaya to the village of Tannurin
and I remembered you, Alia
and remembered your eyes
and God forgive you, Alia
what beautiful eyes you have.

Oh Mother of God - Fairuz

Oh mother of God, oh compassionate one
Oh treasure of mercy and assistance
You are our refuge and our hopes
Intercede on our behalf, oh virgin
Feel pity for our deaths

It is the season - Antipater of Sidon

It is the season for the ship to travel tearing through the waves;
    no longer does the sea toss, furrowed by dreadful fret.

Erinna - Antipater of Sidon

Few are Erinna's verses nor is she wordy in her songs,
    but this her little work is inspired.

City in the East - Emma Moughabghab

At the centre, upon the peak of the grey hill,
you hold the beating heart of the gyroscope;
it goes round and round and back again:
surrounded by fleeting shadows of multiple lives,
it melts in the summer heat in an iridescent simulation
of the shimmering lights and whispering voices of the city.

SETI - Boghos L. Artinian

Rest in peace, Carl Sagan!
Contact was not imminent when you died,

SINGER(TM) - Joumana-Jo Haddad

Could it be that the old sewing

machine

my mother gave me

would finally come in handy?

The Poet VIII - Khahlil Gibran

He is a link between this and the coming world.
He is
A pure spring from which all thirsty souls may drink.

For Noha Al Hegelan - Venus Khoury-Ghata

At that time the earth was so high up
women hung out clouds and laundry on the same line
angels gripped their skirts to keep them from following stray souls