In a cafe'
I sat tired and the sun
melting my eyes,
although arabesque coffee desperately kept me awake,
I took my glasses off
a school bus passed by
the window
and the 'emergency exit'
written on its body
for some reason
read as 'imaginary exit'.
posted by Dayna at
Saturday, May 12, 2007
"symbolic violence, a gentle violence, imperceptible and invisible even to its victims, exerted for the most part through the purely symbolic channels of communication and cognition (more precisely, misrecognition), recognition, or even feeling" (Pierre Bourdieu, Masculine Domination 2001 pp. 1-2).
"Exilic in my own self/ belonging to the state/ of paradoxes" A displaced Palestinian queer, I was born in north of Palestine, to internally displaced parents (since 1948). I lived in what the Western powers call “The State of Israel”. I was forced to hold a shameful Israeli ID written on it “Aravi” in Hebrew or in English an Arab, so I was only an Arab for the state since Palestinians do not exist anyways. I moved to live in Jerusalem in 2000 to witness the everyday violence of the Israeli state, through its police, army, checkpoints, apartheid wall, ID check-ups and transfers. My political consciousness was crystallized in Jerusalem, precisely after “The Monster” was built turning Jerusalem (and all Palestine) into a Ghetto. “I lost myself/ when the wall was erected,/ leaving me with memories of/ how heavenly it used to be/ before.”
2 Comments:
I like the idea of an 'imaginary exit'. I have also experienced this misreading of words in states where I am tired or dreamy. An imaginary exit makes me think both of being trapped and also dreaming of something different--a way out (even if only on the mind/spirit). I also like the overlay of emergency and imaginary...
By
ayasha, at 3:06 am, May 12, 2007
thanks Ayasha
i agree with you.
it is amazing how our minds can go to different directions when we are tired and all dreamy!
By
Dayna, at 8:41 am, May 12, 2007
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