<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="no-dropcap" style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Rooms</span></p><p class="no-dropcap" style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">1.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Some of us wake up<br class="">to rooms and brewed coffee</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">and the low clatter of spoons<br class="">filling up the kitchen</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">while the voice<br class="">of an elderly</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">pacing<br class="">the street below</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">our balcony<br class="">begs</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;" class="">allah<br class=""></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;" class="">allah<br class=""></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;" class="">allah </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">like a drifting tune<br class="">till we no longer hear him.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">2.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Here comes the fruit cart<br class="">selling tangerines like tiny fists.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Here comes the man who measures<br class="">the weight</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">of chestnuts only to burn them<br class="">on a low fire.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Everywhere, children<br class="">are breastfeeding other children.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">3.</span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">War within</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">earshot</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">and the sea</span></div><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">the size of our lungs</span></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">we choke on the bones of those</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">who drowned and never arrived</span></div><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">or never left/</span></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">/this Mediterranean overpass to</span></div><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 57px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">nowhere.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Sabah el khair</span> are two words<br class="">of a prayer.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">We used to think that refugees<br class="">were of one kind</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">and we never knew<br class="">that we were too.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">4.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">My aunt says a woman<br class="">is like the soil, like the land,</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">el maraa mitil el ard</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">giving back despite<br class="">the pounding of army</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">boots and the blue fists<br class="">of men on our skin.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Giving back in orange<br class="">groves and children</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">even though her body<br class="">couldn’t<br class="">her land lost</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">eighteen and forced to walk<br class="">the length</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">of exile to get here.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">5.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Here the streets are stray<br class="">cats. The streets are gossip</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">in the mouths of men.<br class="">/Minarets creaking like</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">old forgotten beds./</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">You say these men kill<br class="">with their hands, their teeth,</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">their swords, this is the way<br class="">they open countries.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">You say you have no<br class="">idea who their god is</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">and why<br class="">but you know exactly</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">how only some of us<br class="">wake up to rooms</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">and brewed coffee<br class="">to the low clatter of spoons filling up</span></p><p style="margin: 0px auto 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 800px;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">the kitchen<br class="">like a cruel laugh in our chest—</span></p><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Rewa Zeinati</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>