If I could say something to the brave souls back home, I’d say this:

Dear Egyptians,

Remember, you have Youth, Truth and Love on your side; the old regime only has Hate and Lies. Let that give you courage to forge a New Future; they represent a stubborn past. Do not let them divide you or put fear in your hearts. And let the young lead, the young are still immune to fear. Keep your spirits high and clean and you will keep the protests beautiful.  

You make us all proud. You’re our hope and inspiration!

Warmly,

Yahia

27 January 2011

What is to give Light

   What is to give light must endure
   burning, a man once said
   Another man became the matchstick
   that set a nation aflame

   But fire, and its appetite, cannot be
   calculated, like freedom
   Injustice and desperation make men
   combustible, like dry wood

   When words lose their meaning
   and an entire people their voice –
   so they can neither laugh nor scream –
   death and life begin to taste the same

   From Tunis, to Egypt, to Lebanon to Yemen
   the light from a burning man proved catching
   And those with nothing to lose, or offer, but bodies
   fanned the embers of their hopes into a blazing dream.

Yahia Lababidi