Solitary

What if the heart can't stop loving?

What if it tried hatred, indifference, and numbness but nothing works?

What if love is the only hat that fits..
the only medicine that cures..
the only key that opens?

What if love has becomed a curse you're doomed to endure a lifetime?

Thank you...

To the lady that bumped into me as I was carrying two cups of Starbucks double mocha macchiato on my way to chat with my mother on the marble courts surrounding the Holy Mosque of Madinah…

Thank you for drenching my niqab in chocolate and filling my limited air space during sujood with that wonderful aroma...

That was before..

A few years ago I used to confuse between "lingual" and "palatal" until I finally realized they were synonyms...

A few years ago I would mix up between "oligo-" and "poly-".. the world of medical prefixes and suffixes was a mystery to me…

A few years ago studying the muscles of facial expression would bring me to tears.. was it "orbicularis oris" that was around the orbit and "orbicularis oculi" that surrounded the mouth.. or vice versa?

A few years ago the medical dictionary was my best friend.. "sialolith", "gastrectomy" and "rhinorrhea" were looked up several times.. till the pages became worn out…

A few years ago I would quaver when dissecting a rat as I put the spleen aside to observe the pancreas…

A few years ago I would hold back the nausea as I removed the skull cap from the cadaver to examine the dural venous sinuses…

A few years ago I would stare at a radiograph of the skull and know nothing about it except that it wasn't an image of the femur…


That was then…

Now I know…
Now I can…

Irresistible

It's a full-moon night...
I noticed as I filled the kettle to make myself some arabic coffee...
The moon looks so desirably alluring from my kitchen window...
The warm breeze gently tickles the flirtatious curtains...
The cardamom fills the air with its soothing scent...
The saffron magically turns my plain fingers into gold...
My "Benign Tumors" lecture lays untouched on the counter...
"Hemartoma" or a moon lit walk??
Too late...
I grab a date to munch on as I head to the yard...

Graffiti

A father drops his son off at school..
As soon as he turns the corner.. innocent "Ahmad" changes his profile in a hurry...
He takes off his shimagh and stuffs it in his backback.. squirts some hair gel and quickly readjusts his hairdo into a trendy mohak...
He takes his i-Pod from the pocket of his thobe, checks his reflection while putting the latest "Boys like Girls" song and hums along aimlessly...
He smiles in remembrance as he sees the graffiti on the walls of his school..
"A work of art" Ahmad says to himself "Who knew I had it in me"

Red means stop, take a minute and imagine

The cranky red light shined with anger.. it was too early to enjoy life...
Especially with 5o cars honking at you per hour.. including our minivan..
I took a sip of my latte and observed the surroundings while Taylor Swift sang "Love Story" through my headphones..
"You were Romeo you were throwing pebbles.. and my daddy said stay away from Juliet "
*****
A Palestinian mother stood with her young daughter waiting for the school bus..
Her red blood- shot eyes indicated a serious case of insomnia...
How could she possibly have a good night's sleep without thinking of her husband lost somewhere at the borders of Palestine in unknown condition..
If it wasn't for her routine cup of turkish coffee.. her sanity would've died long ago...
*****
Across the street a Pakistani driver washes his owner's red car...
Stealing time in between wipes to gaze at the bus stop...
The little girl was a picture of innocence with her bouncy ponytail and Hello Kitty lunchbox..
He remembers his own imaginary family in his mind...
*****
Next to me my cousin lays her head on the window dozing off to sleep...
The driver taps his fingers on the wheel in annoyance...

Wake-up call

You walk through life blinded by your own worries and sorrows that you become oblivious of the world around you...

You forget that other people suffer BIGGER things, real thorns scar their skin while you suffer the agony of a frosty stare from your loved one..

Some see their beloved slowly die in front of them while they are unable to help except for a wistful smile… while you watch "Grey's Anatomy" and sigh wondering if you'll ever find your real life "McDreamy"…

I'm NOT claiming who bears more pain…but sometimes when you broaden your horizon and remember that there IS pain somewhere else in the world.. it eases your sorrow.. at least for me it has…

Pain is a universal language… no translation is ever needed..