Cairo: Hell And Heaven In One Zone Poem by nadia abduljabbar

A land that has terms
Of its own;
A place in which
You can meet a witch,
Intellectual writer'
Belly Dancer,
Sheikh, preist,
Extremly rich
men and women
Living close
To extremly poor ones,
Givers and theives
Hermet and heat
Beside nice weather,
Gardens and desert
On your way,
In one day,
These contradictions
Can only be found
In Cairo.

My emotions are so perplexed
When talking about you
Cairo,
Three of your men tried hard
To destroy myself esteem,
Their efforts were in vain,
Yet the efforts
Of three of your women
And may be many more,
Helped me like rain
When it helps a fertile
Thirsty soil to flourish
They made my thoughts
Blossom,
Bloom,
And glow,
They did a lot to make me grow;
They supported me in adolescence,
As well as in my youth,
How can I forget Fatma, Mona and Zainab,
Who taught me how to curb
My pain and channel it to gain,
Who stood by me in difficult days.

With all the tears I shed under your sky,
With all the sufferings I endured,
My feelings for you are not mingled;
Or confused any more,
For now I can see
I learned from
Your radio, from your classic
Songs and music
Far more than I can say,
My only son ‘s name
Sprang from your land,
How can I
Then hate you Cairo,
With all the evil I
Met on your land,
How can I hate the root
Of the only man
Who believed in my ability
To stand so strong before storm
Who thought I am created
From a kind of
Angelic water and source,
Who found shelter in my arm;
In my chest,
As I found shelter
In Fatma's guidance
How can I hate you Cairo,
When you could give birth
To a woman like Fatma
The best of all;
A semi god mother.

With all the confusion
You created in my life,
I can not hate you
And more than that;
I forgive you Cairo.