A Journey of Estrangement and Longing

These poems first bloomed between May of 2004 and October 2010, in four volumes of Egyptian colloquial verse, brought into the light by Dar Al-Hadara.

But- alas- since 2013, that press has closed its doors,

and those poems vanished like dust in the wind.

So much so that I can no longer find a single copy of some, to place among my books, or to gift to a critic

who still believes in words.

That is why I rejoice in this new beginning- rekindling the broken bridge between me and the vanished verses chosen here from my scattered, sunken books- books lost from shelves, from newsstands, from pavement and street stall alike.

And let me remind you, my kind reader: I began my journey with the spoken rhythm of the people- with poetry in the tongue of Cairo's caf?s and corners.

Three of these four volumes saw the world before my first story collection (Immigrants, 2005) or my first novel (Plastic Flowers, 2006) took breath in print.

That is why this vernacular verse- rooted in the soil of my memory, in the salt of my longing- holds a place

tender and unshakable in my heart.

-Sherif Meleka