By Fadi Abu Deeb

(First published in Inventory Journal, No. 6, Princeton University)

When the great resurrection comes\

The heaven scowls

Olive trees are drenched by the restless ringing bells

I am once again a child in my old school

Joyfully climbing my home’s white steps,

I see my mother’s face dissolving in the bright of a western sun,

I glare at my father staring at the sea covering the horizon

There, in the hidden corner/

I stand with my childhood friends

……back there,

Watching the gray sky approaching us\

Hiding new planets behind its clouds

Barely, we see each other’s face

There, behind the wall…\

My mother prepares a dinner for the coming millennium