“PHONETICALLY SPEAKING” To reflect the fast pace of world news, my blog is probably best served as a stream-of-consciousness text. Fast and unadulterated. With this approach, and on first encounter, text might not seem to scan. This is because I am dyslexic. Instead of keeping the proof-readers busy, I would rather let my blog updates of my visual work stand as a record of my experience of dyslexia, which I am keen that you now get to enjoy too. Unlike some news outlets, I hereby excuse myself the need for a ‘corrections’ section! The excitement of a new language is something I’m quite familiar with, and it is with this ‘joie de vivre’ that I am delighted to guide you through my thought and work processes, more phonetically (than fanatically) speaking.
Liberation Anthem
To the people of Israel who fear our freedom: Don’t be afraid, we will liberate you too.
This is my rendition
Of an anthem to be sung
That day you and I
Will stand side by side
Shoulder to shoulder
Watching a new dawn
Wipe away
Decades of hate and savagery
The day I rise
From the ruins of your oppression
I promise you I will not rise alone
You too will rise with me
You will be liberated
From your tyranny
And my freedom
Will bring your salvation
This is my rendition
Of an anthem to be sung
I’ll craft new expressions
Outside of this suffocating language
That has occupied me
Your words,
Are like your walls
They encroach on my humanity
I am more than demography
I’m neither your collaborator
Nor your enemy
I am not your moderate
Not your terrorist
Not your fundamentalist
Islamist
Extremist
Militant
Radical
I am more than adjectives
Letters and syllables
I will construct my own language
And will defeat your words of power
With the power of my words
This is my rendition
Of an anthem to be sung
I don’t want to obliterate
Nor humiliate you
I refuse to hate you
Don’t care to demonize
Or Proselytize
Or theorize your intentions
Every breath you draw
Reminds me you are human
The sound of your beating heart
Is rhythm familiar to my ears
You and I are no different
We are made of blood and tears
This is my rendition
Of an anthem to be sung
I will resist and soar
Above your matrix of control
With the strength of my will
Your walls will fall
And this concrete that segregates us
Will be used to rebuild homes
Your bulldozers and your tanks
Will dissolve into the earth
The sap will run in the olive trees
The gates will open wide for the refugees
We will be free
I will be your equal
And only then
You will be mine
My other self
My fellow human being
June 27, 2011
