There used to be some broken steps <br />in the house long ago. <br />i played on them when i was small. <br />How often i slid on the banister in innocent play! <br />There used to be cracks on the wall <br />like an old woman's face <br />laughing with her naughty grandchildren. <br /> <br />There used to be hearts, arrows, <br />lovers' initials amorously embracing each other <br />like wings of seagulls crossing the sea of longing. <br />Here, the people of love used to live, <br />and i… <br />used to live here. <br /> <br />i used to spend the evenings with my friends, <br />loitering at the house gate, <br />courting girls with sweet words <br />when they passed us by, <br />illuminating the alleys of our district. <br /> <br />i used to spend the night awake. <br />Angels of light were filling <br />the cups of Heaven with longing- <br />longing as infinite as Heaven. <br />i was hearing in my solitude <br />lovers' prayers in their yearning: <br />‘The Night Falls'… <br />‘O Cup Companions'… <br />‘For the Sake of Your Eyes'…1 <br />For her, <br />sweet is my life in longing <br />and sweet is passing-away for her! <br />We are the people of love, <br />fused in longing. <br />The butterfly melts in her love, <br />love is ablaze from her death! <br /> <br />My house entrance used to be here, <br />and here used to be an old doorknob, <br />darkened from the tenants' sweat, <br />from the warmth of their dreams. <br />And the cracks on the walls <br />were like an old woman's face, <br />laughing with her grandchildren, <br />and here used to be our broken steps. <br /> <br />Where is our house, dad? <br />said my small child, <br />the key of my old house <br />dangling on his chest! <br /> <br />16 November 2006 <br /> <br />1 These are three songs by legendary Egyptian singer Um <br />Kulthum.<br /><br />Sayed Gouda<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-old-house-14/
