The Other Side of Me

The belly dancer does her daily dance and I know I'm up next. She moves to the right and to the left, her body is so elastic as if she doesn't have bones, isn't this what they always say? For me she doesn't look boneless, she looks in control knowing exactly how much she needs to move her hip, knowing the perfect timing for her arms to be surrounding her hips and when to surround her head. She knows when her shoulders and chest should move and when to keep them static. She knows when to show a leg and when to lean down. She knows when to move in her dance and when to dance in her place. Her face changes from a smile to a frown to a laugh to a sad face. It's like it's in sync with the moves of her body. I look at her face and I wonder, does she ever feel the way I feel, or used to feel when she dances? Or is it just her job, just a job, and she does it professionally? Is it my dance or the meaning behind it that makes me feel this way? I already know the answer ...

Night has fallen on beautiful Downtown, Cairo. It was a summer night and somehow the sky looked clear, without clouds or pollution. The crescent was just a small curved light in a dark sky, like lips smiling on a face that has gone to sleep and lighting it up in the middle of the night. There were million stars in the sky but only a few were seen. Like angels that guide our ways even when we don't see them, the stars lit the city. At a corner stood a shop as big as an apartment of newlyweds, it's lights were bright but focused on colorful stones reflecting their gloss on the window, they pulled every woman in the street like a magnet pulls iron, Its window had no iron though. White, red, green, blue, the colors of heaven in a lady's eyes. By the window stood ladies smiling with enjoyment loving every piece of jewelry in the shop's window. Stood other ladies with sad smiles on their faces longing for a diamond ring or an emerald ear-ring that was too expensive for them...

It was just a normal day, she was walking to work by herself, her earphones brought the best music to her ears and she held her morning coffee mug in her right hand. There was a soft breeze traveling by her side bringing the smell of newly cut grass to her. Birds were singing a happy song, she could not hear it, but she felt it just by looking at them. She loved life and she loved herself, she felt active and happy, she enjoyed every breath she took and for that she kept a smile on her face. She overslept this morning, she was running to catch the bus to work. She didn't have her morning tea, forgot her phone and could barely wash her face. She felt the breeze pushing her in the wrong direction, she heard the birds shouting at her to walk faster. She saw nothing but traffic lights that she had to stop for to be even more late than she already was. She hated life, and she hated herself, she felt weak and unhappy, with every breath she took she felt angry with herself and for th...

In a forest where none may pass but you, I invade the unknown in search for the face I know. I crawl my life away longing for your everlasting touch that rushes life into my veins. It's a long journey that I have to take, I feel it with every heartbeat. It's the place where you wait for me, I feel it with every step that brings us closer. I'll walk and run and crawl and fly to reach you. I walk everyday to reach you, I go all the way and with every step I feel my body getting stronger, I feel the energy, the excitement, I feel your love giving power to every muscle in me. I feel my legs walking longer steps, faster ones, I lose the pain, I feel free. No matter how long the journey is, I'll keep running through your forest. I run until my breath is sucked out of me, I run until my heartbeat is faster than a shooting star, my feet tremble and my back aches. It's only then that I find that I'm half way, I remember your scent and my breath is at peace, I rememb...

A moonless sky full of stars, an empty street, not a breath. The sound of waves coming my way. A see of darkness bringing me peace. A lonely soul looking for love, sees a light coming from afar. It disappears and I look ahead, to a light  of a city that never goes to bed. It's so far from here, not a soul is heard. White, yellow, green, red. Lights all sending messages from the far away land. They run in the sea like on an exiled land. A sea so loud with murmuring sounds of secretes carried from another ground. The sound of splashing, near midnight, a jumping fish? A lost life? A romantic fling, looking for a private swim? A child screams with hurt or fun. The sound of footsteps on a lost turn. A highway by the horizon, to heaven or to hell? Stars that look at a lone soul, show some mercy bring me hope. They smile at me, and one winks my way. It whispers to me, make a wish and I shall obey. I look to it in the eye, take a breath filled with ocean's air. I spread my hands so wi...

A moon looking so small lights up the whole world. A simple smile on your face lights up my little world. A moon so far away is always close everywhere. No matter how far you may be you'll always be here with me. A moon as old as time knows all the tales of love. Inside of me, I carry our stories that only both of us know, that only make sense to you and me. A moon looking so pure washes up the darkness of the night. A love ever so white brings hope in the darkest days. I hear your voice and I'm yearning for your presence. I look to the moon and I feel you close to me, because I know that no matter how far you are you're watching the same scene. I know you can see the same moon. I feel you close, but not just enough, like lips almost touching, but not quite so.  Like breaths mixed together with the never-ending breeze. Like two hearts beating to the same rhyme, but only one is heard. Like two hands touching, but through a wall of glass. I imagine us walking toget...

Away from all the pain, so far away. Away from dirty streets and dirty souls, away from crowded streets and empty minds. Away from fights over opinions, away from dissing and swearing. Away from interfering, away from the lack of privacy. Away from the lack of morals, away from the lack humanity. Away from dirty rumors away from dirty means. Away from technology, from traffic, from street fights, from shouting, from hatred, from hypocrisy, from lying, from double standards. So far away in a place where hatred does not exist, where people are as pure as a baby's soul that has not yet been scratched. Where the only sounds are of air, water and music. Where everyone respects each other. A clean place with clean words. A colorful place, that draws colorful memories. A place that only smells of nature away from pollution. A place where love exists. A place of peace and serenity, of comfort. A place where a person can actually enjoy just a few days. A place where showers are to be t...

It's at the break of dawn, it's when the sun is setting. It's when the very first bird starts singing in the morning, it's in my every dream. It's with every breath taken, and every breath taken away. It's with every step, it's with every touch. It's with every smile, it's with every frown. It's when I'm working, it's when I'm playing. It's when I'm running, it's when I'm standing. It's when I laugh, it's when I cry. It's with every meal, it's with every drink. It's with every tic of the clock, and with every toc. It's when I'm driving, it's when I'm walking. It's the only time I think of you.

It's the pink town where Cupid and his team live. It's where all the houses are heart shaped. It is the place where arrows are peaceful weapons. Its streets are made of young girls' ribbons and satin sashes. Its rain smells of strawberry lollipop and its clouds are made of cotton candy. Its people fly to work. Their beds are made of marshmallows. Their walls are painted in nail polish. Their water is pink lemonade. It's a place where hate does not exist, where the air smells of roses all year long.

Running like a free woman, she feels herself fly with every step she takes. She feels so light in the air, not like an aimless feather. The oxygen that gets into her lungs feels cleaner, not like that on the ground. Her heart beats faster when she flies, but not in a way that steals your breaths. She feels every muscle doing its job, but not in a way that hurts her. With every time she touches the ground she decides that the she won't stop. She came from nowhere and wasn't going somewhere, but she knew exactly where she was going. She ran like a queen, she felt like she had all the power in the world, all the inspiration, all the happiness, all the freedom, and she knew that all this lied in having nothing.

She looked up to the ocean's droplets on the dark endless carpet. It was a moonless night, dark as emptiness, but the droplets shined like hope amid desperation. She looked up to a witness of endless memories, she looked up to the eternal view. Nature was so silent, not the sound of the waves of the sea, not the whistles of the air. It was only them and nature, they too were silent. She looked up while he looked down, he looked down to the soft golden crystals, he looked to the castles, hills and holes. He looked down to the memories of yesterday that won't be here tomorrow. He looked to grains ready to shape endless memories. They sat together but were in different worlds, the smell of lands of far away brought them back to where they were. They both looked ahead to a world that never stops moving, to a life that could take them so far from home. They looked ahead to the way that might take them to different sides, he held her hand. They knew walking against the current would ...

I have been waiting for this day all my life, the day my wings grow and set me free. I have lived in this cocoon for as long as I remember, others call it raw silk, but I call it prison. I have have waited to see the third dimension of the world, I have waited to fly in this sea of blue silk, real silk. I have waited to feel this borderless world, then the day came and I made my hole. I went out and spread my wings ready to fly thinking that now I have become free. Then a voice came to me, saying that I can only fly a few inches, that I belong on the ground. I felt my wings, and I felt strong, like I could do anything, like I could change the world. Then the voice came back to me telling me that I'm too small to make any difference, that I'm too big for my wings to carry me. I looked above, and I saw inspiration, I felt it fly through every scale. I knew I might be small, I knew my wings aren't that strong, but I knew that if I tried hard enough I will make it. I hovered...

If you were my pen I'd draw my life with your ink in the color of happiness. You'd draw on leaves of Lotus, so pure as a baby's soul. Your words would tell the story of a quill that has stopped flying and landed down for a greater good. With every line you write you'll add meaning to the world. With every figure you draw a bird will be let out of that big cage of mine. The edits you make will bring my birds closer to the sky wisdom. With every line you draw under a word a new truth will be discovered. My dear pen, the day you stop drawing is the day my birds stop flying, is the day my world becomes dim, so never stop drawing all the beautiful meanings in the world.

It's that street I walk everyday, where I meet myself, my other self. It's where I reach my other world, my other life. It's where I reach happiness, happiness that gets me through my day, my life. It's that street filled with shops and coffee-shops, filled with people running in all directions. In my imagination it's nothing like that; it's that street with a garden in the middle. The garden of Eden, the garden of fulfilled dreams, of immortal hope, of eternal faith. The street is always clean, the sun is always shining there, the temperature is always at its best. The music plays all the time, comforting, relaxing music, a symphony sung by little birds. The scent of mixed flowers makes everyone walking there smile as they walk. No one is running, we're walking slowly enough to enjoy the view, quickly enough to benefit from the walk. We all know each other, we meet there everyday, we greet each other as we go, sometimes with just a smile or a quick gesture...

It's the 22nd of December, the night has fallen on the city that never sleeps. It's been snowing for so long, the streets are almost white, the shop windows all have green Christmas Trees, decorated with red and golden ribbons, balls, and lights. Whenever you pass a shop you'd hear the sounds of Christmas Carols coming from inside. Yellow cabs are everywhere dropping off empty handed last minute shoppers, and hailed at the exact same moment by shopping bags and a person drowning between them. A gift for the kids, one for the husband, another for the parents, yet another for the grandparents. Shopping, shopping, shopping. The discount increases everyday, the offers are very special, shoppers can't ask for more. Other cabs hold businessmen in dark suits holding briefcases, running between last minute meetings before the holidays. Tourists walking slowly hand in hand enjoying the view, they look like they can't ask for more. A homeless person sits on the sidewalk with ...

The sun is right in the middle of the sky. Its rays spreading everywhere on the green fields giving them a glittering green color as the the soft breeze makes them dance. The sound of the streaming water is like an endless symphony. Little birds flying close to the ground singing their timeless medley. Brown park benches, with squirrels jumping around looking for someone's lunch to steel.  A pregnant woman lies on one, with a book about motherhood between her hands. She seems to be in another world, with her newborn. On the bench next to her, sits a grandmother watching her young grandchild chase a butterfly. On the other side, sits a man holding a photograph, red-faced, heart beating so loud, breathing slowly, yet so deeply. A tear falls from his right eye, to his cheek, to his chin, then to the photograph, to her face. Next to him sits a tree, an old tree, a large tree with a large shade. Below they sit; a couple. They wear brown pants and white shirts, both of them. His han...