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Solitary Confinement on the Seventh Floor

By Mazen Maarouf

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal

May 1, 2015

Published in New Palestinian Writing

Palestine Lebanon

One day
I’ll tear off my lips
and eat them
like candy.
One day
I’ll rip out my chest
because I’m not an orphanage
for gathering angels.
One day
I’ll remove the door
and stand in its stead
to stop myself from leaving
for the hole in the world.

One day
I’ll tear off my lips
and eat them
like candy.
One day
I’ll rip out my chest
because I’m not an orphanage
for gathering angels.
One day
I’ll remove the door
and stand in its stead
to stop myself from leaving
for the hole in the world.

Mazen Maarouf

Mazen Maarouf is a Palestinian-Icelandic writer, poet, translator and journalist.

Kareem James Abu-Zeid

Kareem James Abu-Zeid is an award-winning freelance translator of authors from across the Arab world.

Nathalie Handal

Nathalie Handal is the author of eight plays and the editor of two anthologies.

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