leena aboutaleb

✨Winner of the 2021 Blongprize✨

b<3ik: a poem of emails 

you seem stressed     asfa habeebi             
thank you 7ub it’s been      hard 
to keep home I get a     pitch black cairo

what if I fall asleep     right here,  imagine 
that world with me   7ub i’d say sorry bas
the void   my void,  your voice!   I’m 
on my way    saba7 el yasmeen   give      
   a kiss    for me      

            to fight you 7ub book a flight 
to survive ramallah akh    how good would 
your city look on me?       cast ur vote albi
           erupt   a date; etel adnan’s emails
are coming out        kiss mairo for me wa     [must]
kill idolatry               mohem            on the off chance you ever
eat  (or bite)     

  [avoid voids made of self-obsession;
sorry I email you so much bas I really love  ]

an exhibition of desert & sea albi   the last pack
of cigarettes you got me; I’m sipping on a basil latte
a demand on the desires of native epistemologies wa 7arkat

I don’t like how big things are habeebi the beginning
& end are my void! your voice! it kind of stuns me

we are waiting to be eaten by the wind j constructs
         a portal to the void this region; what would fanon say?
landscapes. yin & yang

we are koi fish        I always trusted you              drink tea &
rest up, I always loved you            I miss your 
it’s cute     how you think      in silence   in public

send it a kiss for me     who’s staring at you from the other side
of the sea?                please do it when the sun is out &
I can smile         I miss you. stare at me from ramallah
la hon                I want to get reckless       lillek. I miss you.

do you think it’s possible to fall in love on the moon?
           depends on the heart, albi.                

3arasi wa min albi (aka xoxo),
ur fave cyber-visual west bank bitch 
(sending u kisses across il jisr)

yeah maybe I’m still in luv w u

LILAC OF YR VIOLENCE
WE EAT DIMSUM, THE MOON
IS FULL IN LEO WA THE ORACLE
(JESSI) ASKS US TO EAT OUR KARMIC LINK
(SEXY); AKH YA ALLAH, HOW IN LOVE W YOU I AM
THE HONEY ORGASMS INTO POPPIES, YOU ASK ME TO
PLAY WHORE. THE WINE STILLS, WE TELEPORT:
INSERT MICROCHIPS (WLCM TO GENOCIDE), UNNERVING.
THE DAY WILL COME WHEN YOU
CAN DRESS ME IN LINGERIE IN A SOFTWARE. I MISS YOU.
THE TAROT CARDS SAY WE’RE HALFWAY THRU 
OUR WINTER. THE STARS 
FALLING TO SALT WA 
IN YOUR HANDS. KING WA QUEEN OF
SWORDS. WE ARE STUCK IN PERPETUAL RETURN, HOW 
PALESTINIAN OF US. BLUE:
the color of your love for me.