Poems by Hedy Habra

Phoenicians Once Sailed from These Shores

Fishermen, shoulders bent,
set sail daily,
carrying baits,
oil lamps, a loaf of bread.
Theirs a biblical patience,
taking them farther
every day,
muscles tight, foreheads furrowing,
awaiting for the secular miracle,
their nets deployed
in an ancestral garb,
flutters as a dancer's veil
enveloping the dense,
sterile Mediterranean waters,
scooping algae, residues, dead fish,
fugitive ripples.
They return home empty-handed,
later every time,
at dawn or dusk,
eyelids lowered,
disappearing under thick eyebrows,
their flattened nets
heavy with absence.

First published by Live Encounters
From The Taste of the Earth (Press 53 2019)

---

The Abandoned Stone House in Damascus
          Don’t ask me what side I am with!
                    ​Don’t ask me about the outcome!

They say rain won’t wash the indelible blood splattered in the streets, the moans and cries of
children resonate in my aching ears, filling each crack and corner of my heart. Will anyone open
doors and windows wide, let the wind in to erase the bitter clouds of gunpowder? Faces smeared
with dust and sweat all look alike, come and go as they please, their footsteps resonate in my
temples as over worn out, stretched out drums. My walls yearn for the daily smell of freshly cut
herbs, for the warmth of the hearth, the familiar sight of the iron pot hanging over glowing coals.
Once, the simmering stew was singing with spices and children played under the shade of the
olive tree. I can still hear their mother’s humming while separating lentils from stone.

First published by Mizna Literary Journal
From The Taste of the Earth (Press 53 2019)

Hedy Habra is the author of three poetry collections, most recently, The Taste of the Earth (2019), Winner of the Silver Nautilus Book Award and Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Award; Tea in Heliopolis Winner of the Best Book Award and Under Brushstrokes, Finalist for the International Book Award. Her story collection, Flying Carpets, won the Arab American Book Award’s Honorable Mention and was Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. She is a twenty-one-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the net. www.hedyhabra.com

---