The bones of the dead #poem & #artinstallation by Amir Khatib

 

"I sell the bones of the dead to the dead."

Everything you've ever wished to achieve, you can attain,
if you leave the past behind you!

Don't forget it, but don't cling to it.
Don't let it tempt you to return to its embrace,
for it is a prostitute who has left service, seeking someone to restore her to her former glory…
And if you entrust the future to the uncertain possibility and leave it in its hands,

and ground the present in understanding your place and time,
and pledge allegiance to nature in its eternal rule.

But you, what do you truly want?

— I want peace with myself,
for she is the first finger I put in my mouth,
the first sound I heard,
the first being I saw that smiled at me in the mirror,
the first dream, and the first nightmare of my life. It is my homeland, for which I fought eighty years of wars,
Wounded by the stabs of the future,
That invades without justification,
And I aspire to be worthy of my name,
Which is the name of life.
I want a night where I sleep awake and a day without dreams,
I want a completely white sky;
To draw in it and tuck it under my arm,
And planets colored like billiard balls,
To play with them alone without losing.
I want a woman who doesn't misunderstand my silence,
And an ordinary, predictable day that doesn't boast of retribution,
And a hope that's been preserved with the taste of "pastrami".
I want to paint in death,
And hold exhibitions in underground halls overflowing with springs,
I want to sell…
The bones of the dead to the dead in need,
And sing.

Art Installation by Amir Khatib