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An Intoxicating Infatuation

Amine Haj Ali

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It was a cold night. The air was crisp. I smoked my cigarette while observing how the smoke curls under the dim street lights.
«And what am I, darling?»
The song « Cheers Darling » could be heard calmly playing in the bar in front of me.
I watched as the people inside drank their sadness away. Green bottles huddled together on the table. The laughter was so loud.
Are they this happy when they get out of this place? I wondered.
That question led me to question the existence of this myth called happiness.
Such a typical question. So many typical answers.
Am I happy?
I took a pull of my cigarette before I stubbed it out.
It felt like it’s going to be a long night.
I sat down and observed that familiar place.
I remember the first time I went to that bar.
It was a November night. I was out with some friends. The cold, stormy weather was unbearable that we entered through that door.
And it was the start of a never-ending ache that I had to live with.
As we sat down, I couldn’t help but hear an entrancing sound of girl singing;
«Cheers darling, you gave me three cigarettes to smoke my tears away.»
As I followed the source of that hypnosis, my eyes laid over the most beautiful creature on earth. She was a fascination. Her eyes were closed as she sang, her words were laced with emotions.
My heartbeat was out of control. As I began to memorize her features; Her olive skin filled with dark freckles, her light brown curly hair bouncing left and right as she rocked back and forth.
Everybody was watching her, but I was studying.
Never have I thought God could create such a beautiful creature.
And as she opened her eyes, oh my Lord as she opened them, the green orbs penetrated my soul, stabbing my insides.
She looked warmly at the audience and smiled a smile that warmed my heart. The cold was long forgotten.
But then I came back to reality. I was still in front of that bar remembering memories that should have been long forgotten.
I continued walking home.
And bits of my soul died with every step I took.

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Woman with a parasol

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« what are you so afraid of losing when nothing in this world belongs to you. »

I think of this quote way often, way more than i should.
Every time the sunset is too beautiful, the trees cast the shadows on the streets, and i catch myself missing old versions of me, of how everything used to be .. every time a train passes by and i just stand there, standing still in a world that’s constantly moving forward.

Every time i raise my eyes to the vast deep blue sky and the stars are flickering with light, a passionate light, showering the world with their magic. Every time the moon is following me down a long heavy road from home to home — a feeling I’ll never get used to. Every time i catch a bird doing its little dance in the misty rain and it all feels a bit too good to be true .. every time a familiar face passes next to me on a road busy with people, with life.

Every time i feel safe, scared, hopeful .. every time i feel, i am reminded of how « nothing in this world belongs to me, and i belong to everything. » Of how i have nothing to lose yet everything to experience .. what a wonderful gift it is that none of this grief i carry between the palms of my hands belongs to me, none of this beauty around me belongs to me. I get to live through it all. I get to experience it all.

Written by: Hadil Khalili

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