September 2022 – Poetry is Closer than the Sea

During our first session in the Writing Space, we wrote a lot. I asked everyone to send me their pieces if they would like them to get published here.

I’m sharing Hadeel M’s poem. Hadeel is an English literature student, and she chose this specific major out of passion for both literature and the English language. She loves to read and write and she aspires to become a writer one day.

Hallisa**

Saaed S. and Fatima arrived to Haifa that afternoon

He in his old black car

and she, in her new blue car

She parked in as he did,

right behind his car.

Fatima greeted the soldier as he came to her car

Shaloom Fatima, he said,

they’re friends.

He served in the Army,

with her.

They served in the army,

together.

Fatima glimpsed, then, Saaed S. glances

at the soldier,

She saw the judgment in his eyes,

he looked long at her and the soldier,

standing next to her car.

Saaed S. had lost a child

The soldier had taken away

Saaed’s child.

He’s Fatima’s friend, the soldier.

Saaed left his car and took the ladder next to Fatima’s apartment

to his old house.

Fatima said goodbye to her friend and also took the ladder to her apartment.

Saaed knocked, and she did too.

Shalom, Fatima’s roommate said as she opened the door for her,

and greeted her with hugs and kisses.

shalom? said the lady living in Saaed’s home,

as she looked up and down

the stranger standing at her doorstep

requesting entry

شو حكت هاي؟ (what did she say?)

said Saaed.

The lady is confused

and so is Saaed.

Saaed looked at his own home

which is no longer

his home.

Saaed is unable to enter his home

מי אתה, אדוני? בבקשה תעזוב לפני שאתקשר למשטרה

(who are you, man? Please leave before I call the police!)

Fatima took a final glance at Saaed,

as he took a final glance at his home,

he was short and very old

he looked like Fatima’s father a bit,

he could’ve been Fatima’s father,

he could’ve been someone’s father.

יאללה היכנסי (come on in),

her roommate urged her.

And she did,

as she saw Saaed, right before she closed her apartment’s door, leave.

And Fatima went to her room,

and Saaed to his old black car.

and she watched Saaed S. leave, as she stayed.

But the look she saw in his eyes,

him standing outside his house,

being denied entry,

his final look at his house as he stood beside his car,

never left her.

Fatima sees Saaed S. everywhere now.

She sees him every time her roommate welcomes her home,

and everytime her neighbor

(the one who lives in Saaed’s home)

invite her over to her house,

Saaed’s house.

She sees Saaed in the old Arab man who took the bus with her,

and told her all about his children.

She sees Saaed.

Context:

Fatima and Saaed S. don’t know each other. She guessed who he was judging by the interaction he had with her neighbour and because she is familiar with people coming to their old homes after the Nakba.

The speaker in the poem is an omniscient third party. He knows the events of both the life of Fatima and Saaed S. When Saaed was displaced, his child was killed by the IDF in the midst of the shooting. The character of Saaed is inspired by Ghassan Kanafani’s Saaed S. from Return To Haifa, except the few changes I made as to the fate of his child and the circumstances of his return to Haifa.

The poem discusses both the feelings of Palestinians after the 48′ war, specifically those who were displaced and those who stayed and chose to engage in the new Israeli society. Saaed S. was displaced, and Fatima is now engaged in the society to the extent where she has Jewish friends, lives with Jewish people, and serves in the Army. The poms want to criticize those actions of Fatima by the character of Saaed and by highlighting the differences between them. Fatima lives comfortably in Haifa, while Saaed comes to visit, for example, despite it being the city of both of them.

Saaed’s character also plays the role of an awakening to Fatima, as upon seeing him, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Fatima now sees him everywhere, as he represents all the Palestinians who lost their homes and children, implying her thinking of other Palestinians whom she never thought of, due to the comfort of her circumstances and the luxury offered to her as a resident under the occupation.

As we sat in the backyard of Fattoush Gallery in downtown Haifa, a yellow butterfly blessed us with its graceful presence. I am not a superstitiuos person but yellow butterflies symbolize love and magic for me (if you’ve read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Marquéz you will understand why). Indeed, our Writing Space was magical and filled with love for something we all care about: writing. Writing is this action when our words express our emotions; when they unravel unconscious processes and impressions; and when we explore an uncharted, rich place of imagination and creation.

We met this Saturday morning (3rd of Sep) in Haifa’s eclectic Fattoush Gallery and Bar. We got to know each other (there were 11 of us) by doing a round of names and naming a book that we like or we’re currently reading. After ordering our coffee, we started with the first writing exercise “stream of consciousness” that consists of writing without stopping nor thinking for 7 minutes. The first words of this prompt was “be prepared….”. My mind was so hard to restrain and i wrote gingerly without taking my pen off the paper. After the 7 minutes were over, I asked the participants how were they doing and I got the following replies: refreshing, encouraging, I feel warmed up. And this is exactly what I was aiming for.

The second exercise was really fun: each person was handed a piece of paper and was asked to write 5 things: a place, a color, a machine/tool, a feeling, a flavor. After writing our words, we folded the paper and were asked to pass it to the person on our left. After that, each one was asked to write a piece (poetry or prose) using the words written on that piece of paper. We had 10 minutes to do this challenging prompt, but it was really worth it! The results were amazing and people shared some great pieces (I will be sharing some of what people wrote later).

The third and last prompt was inspired from my thesis paper and my whole obsession with the question of space and poetry- which is exactly the essence of this poetry project (Poetry is Closer than the Sea). I read them a quote by Henri Lefebvre saying:

“the live, practical experience does not let itself be exhausted through theoretical analysis. There always a surplus, a remainder of inexpressable and unanalysable but most valuable residue that can be expressed only through artistic means” (Sturart 49)

Later, they were asked to reflect on the space of Haifa by recalling a specific place and a specific action or event taking place there. Following this, they were asked to imagine/ reflect/ analyse/ pereive the place differently: how could it have been? how was it? how’s this place lived? what’s more than material conditions of the place? This was a bit of a hard prompt because it wasn’t super clear as it allowed more interpretation and freedom (which can be both a good thing and a bad thing).

Wrapping up, we ended with taking a beautiful picture (although not all participants appear in the photo because some people left before taking this photo). After that, we lingered in the cafe and shared some writings and poems.

From left to right: Yosefa, Nicole, Ihab, Ola, Olivia, Aicha, Tamar, Noor, Aseel, and Hadeel.

As soon as I got home, I sent them an email with the evaluation form along with another writing prompt. The writing prompt is to read this ghazal and to try to imitate it. I’m sharing some of the replies from the evaluation form:

Reading these responses just makes me so happy and makes these initiatives more exciting and rewarding. I’m hoping to have future events and to develop the concept of The Writing Place.