Sinful Syllables by Emile Whaibeh
Sinful Syllables
When they come for me,
Will you be my hideaway,
Or let me burn at the stake?
and because you never cared
or understood
pain or poetry,
I never wanted to write
anything for you.
there is only so much I can do
with words, rhymes and sorcery
to unchain myself
and flee
fate and fire
to return to life
free
and new.
You know I am so tired
of counting
on guilty fingers
syllables and sins.
The palms of my hands
have become sore
rubbing the lamp
of Aladdin.
The trust we had
once upon a time
has been broken-
scattered
like the pieces of the bottle of rosé
we never finished drinking.
We were a beam
of white
immaculate light
that crashed into a prism
and diverged
into separate colors
travelling
side by side
at different wavelengths.
We are lost souls
but perhaps
if we could fold
and intertwine
like two compatible strands of DNA
recoiling
around each other,
our love
could be reborn.
But tonight,
the music is not as loud
as it was
the first time we met.
We used to dance
for hours
but now
my legs are too weary
to keep up
with your tango.
So I should return to my seat,
call a cab,
or just walk home-
like an unfulfilled prophecy
or an unfinished Sedõka
searching
for my other half.
Lonely katautas
lingered on my lips,
waiting for answers
I never got.
I was the last tarot card
you were too scared
to turn,
the sorcerer’s heart
that you ripped
apart
right in half;
and in my wound,
you shoved your dirty fingers
and pulled
out of me
the last sinful beats left.
Five, seven, seven…
Then our story will be over,
And we will stop counting sins.
©Emile Whaibeh 2014
Follow Emile
Emile Whaibeh is a 20 year-old Armenian Lebanese living in Lebanon. He is a pre-med student who is currently in the process of completing his BS in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Balamand. Even though his future plans involve getting into Medical School and becoming a doctor, it never kept him away from writing poetry. Often asked to make a choice between sciences and literature, Emile never understood why a choice should be made. He believes that while sciences help us understand the world around us, poetry helps us create through syllables and words the world we always dreamed of. He also believes in the cathartic power of poetry. Medicine might heal the body; poetry heals the soul.