Hadi Atallah

I raised a blade

Like a stranger

Coming with argument and authority

But no gunpowder

To back up both

He winking and glimmering

His doors 

Stood open to the morning

Watching his own performance

With mechanical fingers

Good morning, my friend, He said.

And then, He held his breath.

My neighbors held their breath.

As if never to be heard of

I was frozen in time.

“What offends you most, my Father?”

I asked.

It was known in the early morning.

“And do not include me.”

I said dryly.

But suppose I have

Suppose I have arranged it before?

Are you not disciplined for failure?

Some may argue…

But you are destined to succeed.

And what offends me the most

Is looking into the darkness

While your mouths are opened with terror

That is why I let you sleep a little

Silently beside Me

…There always was an excitement in the hunt.

For a second I was black in the doorway