beisansburble

And Just Like That

And just like that, my love for him swelled, it overflowed over the rim of its cup and poured all over the table like a large boundless map of a suddenly borderless unknown world, which I newly marked here, and there, and here, and at the far end of it down there where Australia usedContinue reading “And Just Like That”

Record the Optimist’s Testimony

Those optimists, who see the good in everything, they often have to tread on the trail of their upbeat conviction alone. We have a general idea that bitter and negative people are the lonely ones, who are in need of the most help, compassion, coaxing and attention. On the contrary, it takes much more nerveContinue reading “Record the Optimist’s Testimony”

Mosaic

My consciousness is a mosaic designed with sharp shards and broken pieces of people, words and memories. The glue that keeps them together to make me whole is my subconscious. What you see is not all me. What you see is a part of others, put together by me. -Beisan AlShafei

Within Minutes

In times of distress, all I plan for is to take some space. One of the places I go to is the sea, I sit on the hood of my car to be lulled and hypnotized by the breaking of the water on the shore. I watch my besieged thoughts as they squander spontaneously oneContinue reading “Within Minutes”

It’s Not So Ordinary

It is not so ordinary, she thinks, weighing the ingredients for her daily dose of consolation. Falling asleep by a dim living room lamplight at 22.30, switching it off at 2.00, dragging my feet to my bedroom, ever so sluggishly, so that the demon breathing a heavy milky breath behind my ribs doesn’t wake. That’sContinue reading “It’s Not So Ordinary”

The Rich Man

There was once a man Who lost the joy in living. He saved all that he made And failed the charm of giving. * He knew that he was measured By the riches that he reaps. So why then does his conscience Feel lumbering when he sleeps? * A thread weaved through another Can makeContinue reading “The Rich Man”

As Diligent as a Monkey Orange

He diligently climbed the tree. Branch after branch after branch – hands grabbing their twigs fingers choking their sprigs – and when he could no longer climb, that’s when he reached the topmost of the top of the smallest and flimsiest tree he ever climbed. He paused to glower down at the black of her fleecyContinue reading “As Diligent as a Monkey Orange”