No SCAF: A poem

The gall
Redrawing all those red lines
Right after I washed the floor clean of fear

Swept away the residue of yesterday
Brushed off the dust of intimidation

You’ve connected the dots it seems
Using drops of precious blood still staining the streets

But unlike before, I see the red lines
And I cross them with ease

I jump on them, stomping my feat
Like the crack that broke your mother’s back
This too will break you

I’ll twirl on them like a ballerina
Balance
Sway to the right, then to the left
Tap on beat
Just as I please

Write over them with truth
That maims your chokehold on the masses
No longer am I suffocated by propriety

You are not my father
We are not your honorable children
We are powerful citizens

This is how you shall address me now
In your next communiqué, I want u to say
Oh ye miraculous force that toppled the giant
And when you summon me, I expect a red carpet

Recognize the might
And that patronizing tone
It sounds like you stole it from he — who shall remain without a name

I see your red line
And I raise you a red flag

The stakes are high
I’m calling your bluff
Your betting blind
I’ll force you to fold

How unwise
After all the work we’ve done
You think you can swoop in and eat the cake we baked?

Riling up fear of extremists and non-believers
All the same

A wheel of production, turning in its grave
Well just let it lie in peace

We will reinvent the circle of this life
Make it roll down the road we choose

Lest you be confused
This is a revolution of words
Of chants and screams
Our faith and dreams

Of accountability
So don’t count on your ability to strategize war
Tacticize, tribunalize

This is a different battlefield
Laced with mines of our making

It is you who should tip toe around our red line: dignity
Trip over yourself to cater to our needs
Instead of power tripping and back door deals

Instead of banging on battered backs
And violating the most intimate parts of me

A revolution, ready to birth life anew
Don’t you dare SCAF it up

We will draw on the walls
Lift the veil till it goes viral
And your red lines
Will be
Double crossed

*Amira Salah-Ahmed

Becoming Peace

(Written in September 2010, this piece describes a metamorphosis, a human becoming something else…in this case, peace)

My eyes flutter open, from a silent slumber I am awoken. Blood rushes to dormant limbs, urging senses to unsleep. I look around, eyes unstung by morning light – it is not yet dawn. In the distance I hear the crescendoing roar of an engine as a jet tears its way through clouds, a siren piercing the sky.

I can feel it before it strikes, the thundering boom topples buildings, shatters glass, shreds lives. All is leveled, a mass of rubble and flesh. Then – a screaming silence. The eerily muted sound of life ceasing.

I feel as light as air. I feel. I am undead but unalive, uninhibited by a shapely temple. I can see but not through blinking eyes. I am beneath the crumbled town – everywhere and nowhere. I seep through the cracks of the fallen stone, spiral upwards until I reach light. I soar calmly, stubbornly persistent. I am peace.

Hovering over the scene, the town, the vast land, the nation, I unfurl like silk. Spread softly like velvet comfort and translucent, I reflect greens of the forest, whispering sky blues, rooftop reds, mountaintop whites.

Like a malleable chameleon, I confidently stride through walls, wrap around buildings, encircle families. I carry nations and embrace regions until, rudely interrupted, I falter. I bloom ambitiously: an atom wish, a durable demand then a relentless movement. Life reborn, gaining momentum from my harmonious symphony, until the booming sound of progress is ravaged by deafening defeat.

I ride a collision course with the contrary, at times maneuvering tactfully around destruction, at others swerving frantically from conflict. Constantly crashing down with a bellowing thud, I quickly rise from the rubble of my birth. And against my nature I learn that I must fight war to survive. Still, I am peace.

I am peace as I battle ignorance, peace as I defend sustenance, peace as I draw my sword against the savaged hunger. Insatiable in the face of justice I strategize against the enemy with the wiles of a conqueror. Serene I remain with a death grip served to prejudice, calmly maiming hatred so that it longer hums lies to the souls of the unwise.

My crusades of equality flood the streets to extract purity from mass graves of tainted hearts. I undash the hopes of generations and breathe life into wearied compassion. Floating over front lines like a fearless wave of resistance. I wash away the walled borders of race in a fiery chase with time.

Even in the toughest trials, I tip the balance to the right, worthy of every struggle. I celebrate victories with history lessons so I can one day rest assured. Breed hope with a will to survive one day, always, in peace.

*Amira Salah-Ahmed

Dateline Cairo

(Written in October 2010, this poem was inspired by the protests that occurred after the death of Khaled Said, from the point of view of a journalist covering the events)

This is the most important statement
Bursting with all the information
The who, where and what nows?

Words trimmed down to the bare minimum
The excess eaten with a swift erase
Is that clear enough for you?

Keep my opinions to myself
The world need only know the truth
If I can ever reach it
If you can ever be so unblind to see it

Covering angles with a sharp prognosis
Don’t get carried away with emotion
Crawl out of the scene and hover

Towing that thin line like a ballerina
Tip toeing around misinformation
Let judgments speak through parenthesis and blurred meanings

Do you see the vital detail?
Well now you know
But you weren’t there
You weren’t there to see the bullies
Didn’t feel the push and shove
The boiling center of that kettle
I stood there for hours for you
Water, please!

Meeting dead lines with a harsh sigh
Knowing that it’s never over
The pen was once your sword
Now a board of keys is my shield

The weight of the world sways on my shoulders
Can’t change much but at least I told ‘em
They can see me looking now
Eventually I will stare them down
But for now just pierce their conscience out of its slumber
They stay awake at night thinking of maneuvers
I breathe easy in a tired sleep

A spotlight moving over dark corners
Retell the same story which you’ll never get bored of
Gill them with queries, relay their replies
But you decide who’s right tonight

The inquisitive conveyor brings the baggage
The least you can do is help me carry it

I shake the earthquake of truth
So it comes tumbling overhead
Take cover unless you’re the other
Meant to be buried under the rubble

Knock one down, another rises
In this age there’s no escape
Before I die my torch has passed to a younger stead

I don’t need those biting words
Your accusations sting your own tongue
We can all see it, red with embarrassment
But there’s no blushing here
Just. Play. Ball.

This is about to get ugly
You have to see those lies through
And I’m here to expose you

Making mental notes
So you can’t track me down
Can’t drag me down with your wily tricks

I jump through loopholes rimmed with fire
Eat the dust of justice that I stir up
I am the emergency so let yourself get to know me

In the archive of my memory
The enemy is trembling with fear
They can shut me up
Crack that whip
Thousands take the streets in my defense
And it’s one way to hell from here

The dragon flees its slayer often
Until the one who slits its soul
Scattered over this city you will be
Part of my history but this is not the life I dreamed

Make room for my aspirations at your congregations
Or allow me to step up here and steal your pride
Convicted but I’m no thief
In time the judge will know this was rightfully mine

Keep writing
Tired of righting all your wrongs
Will not hum the tune of that song
I lyricize my own
Music of this generation
Filled with frustration that you brewed
Beautiful even with a painful bruise

I paid my dues but where’s your end of this deal?
Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?
Be a fool to think that I won’t get the last word

*Amira Salah-Ahmed