Dear friends,
We are born with knowledge within us, but it’s our own doubt that stirs us away from our inner power. This poem is based on a dream, which in all its metaphors, is about standing up after a hard fall. That, sure enough, when things were great in my life I claimed to have strength in my being. But that’s not what makes a warrior. It’s only when one gets into the battle of life that one come out with scars and experiences to claim that one stands strong. The panther in the dream is my return to strength and to stand tall once again after a fall.
Last night the panther, in the calmness of the sea
With eyes like two moons, it came to me
Heavy in its embrace
Reminding me of some other place
Last night the panther
Said to me:
Till when will you continue—
Seeing yourself as a visitor?
Till when will you continue –
Hiding yourself from me?
Can you not see this? —
This dream
This is –
You
And you are –
Me!
With love,
Alia
Alia AlShamsi is an Emirati-Italian former photojournalist and university adjunct faculty. She published her first book Alayah with a publishing grant from Dubai Culture and Art Authority, and a second book Night/Day, which is one of the first three Silent Books published in the country, an initiative launched by UAE Board on Books for Young People. She has since moved into poetry and continues to write in both English and Arabic. Follow Alia @AliaAlShamsi.
Illustration by Alia Al Shamsi
