by Aida Bardissi
after Safia Elhillo
1. fact: the arabic word for doubt is شك
the arabic word for tear is شق
to the untrained ear, its letters sound the same.
example: egyptian soldiers performed virginity tests on female protesters during the revolution.
test. multiple choice:
did our men:
doubt
or tear us?
2. fact: عقد folds itself thrice across our tongue — meaning:
a necklace a contract a knot
example: a man convinces himself i am worthy of being a wife.
test.
was my neck left:
adorned
marked
or constricted?
3. fact: the arabic word for pen is قلم
the arabic word for pain is الم
to the egyptian ear, its letters sound the same.
example: the bodies of journalists turn the nile to ink.
silence tears itself into the pages of our dialect.
test.
is language:
written
or agony
4. fact: the arabic word for witness is شاهد
the arabic word for martyr is شهيد
to the untrained ear, its letters sound the same.
example: we saw blood pooling in the streets, we live fractured/wailing/our deposed presidents
haunting our half-dead demands 60 years later. we rise & wake with the same ghosts in our streets.
test.
we are a country of
witnesses
or martyrs?
Aida Bardissi is a current MSc candidate at the London School of Economics, where she specializes in race, indigeneity, & film in 20th Century Egypt. Her work has been featured in Mizna, VIBE Magazine, and DEAR Journal. She speaks four languages but dreams in one. You can find her on Instagram @masreyamrekaneya and on Twitter @aidabardissi.
BAHR // بحر 