Street Lights

Dear You!

Growing up in my home town, we lived in a small apartment with my big family. I guess I was five years old back then, but I still remember my first encounter with street lights...

It was one of the nights where the power gets cut. Every whisper in the street is amplified .. you can hear the lady next door fighting with her husband as he forgot to buy the candles (again), distracted by random women passing by, the Imam reciting from Quran as a sign of faith in the dark, and the silence of my father heavy and loud.

And I remember the sky...

You see, when the lights went out, in a moonless night, the stars were liberated .. they kept glimmering from beyond, bringing sailors home and guiding the tamed hearts to endure the pain of love as a romantic endeavor that might be appreciated with a single glance ... maybe...

But to me, they told me endless stories, about a magic land .. where each star had a twin on earth it never can meet .. whispers in cloudless nights of velvet sands embracing passionate lovers .. a land where smiles dangle of an ancient olive tree .. while its roots are in touch with the eternal source of pure life...

The stars told me that my mother's daily tears are dried out in this land. My father will smile at her with a content .. can you imagine that !! 

They told me I'll be home .. there .. and I won't need a roof to hide .. I'll be liberated there, from all these earthly needs .. as my soul will be rooming around and landing mountain tips .. singing songs echoing eternally in the lonely valleys...

I'll become there, one of them, a star .. and my smile will finally chase the shadows of sadness into a sunny exile .. open the curtains of cozy homes, and keep the warmth in cold December nights... 

I felt my wings growing... I come closer to the window to choose my place .. and the brightness of street lights blind me. The power is back on .. and I'm again .. placeless...

Now, about twenty-seven years later, in another location on this earth .. far away from home .. street lights still hunt me down .. they hide most of my stars .. as they surrender to the infinite .. leaving me again .. homeless, unable to fly .. and still waiting for a moment to shine...

I hate street lights .. and I wanted to tell you that I do!

Sincerely,

Me!