WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.800 align:middle line:90%


00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:05.980 align:middle line:90%
"Ode to my non-Arabic Lover".

00:00:05.980 --> 00:00:08.520 align:middle line:90%


00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:12.080 align:middle line:90%
I couldn't love you, you see,

00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.480 align:middle line:90%
Even though I love you.

00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.360 align:middle line:90%
Soon it will be too late.

00:00:18.360 --> 00:00:20.540 align:middle line:90%
Too dark, even at midday,

00:00:20.540 --> 00:00:24.440 align:middle line:90%
And I will forget my English.

00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:27.620 align:middle line:84%
It's one thing to
make love and say yes,

00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:29.980 align:middle line:90%
Say more in your language.

00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:36.060 align:middle line:84%
But how will I ever translate
my Arab anger, my alliterations,

00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:39.060 align:middle line:84%
Those rough sounds that scratch
their way out of my throat,

00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:43.040 align:middle line:90%
Which you will merely find sexy.

00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:46.880 align:middle line:84%
And yes, I know you
could learn your Fairuzes

00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:48.240 align:middle line:90%
And your Umm Kulthums,

00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.660 align:middle line:84%
Your curse words, your
Beiruts, your Niles,

00:00:50.660 --> 00:00:54.040 align:middle line:84%
Your street names
and your yallas.

00:00:54.040 --> 00:00:57.880 align:middle line:84%
But what will
happen when I begin

00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:03.540 align:middle line:84%
to lose this English I have
trained myself to speak?

00:01:03.540 --> 00:01:06.940 align:middle line:84%
I'm already old and
walk night corridors

00:01:06.940 --> 00:01:10.540 align:middle line:84%
whispering things even I
don't get in a language you

00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.160 align:middle line:90%
don't understand.

00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:15.380 align:middle line:84%
Following sunlit
Sundays to long tables

00:01:15.380 --> 00:01:19.460 align:middle line:84%
under the shade of grape vines
and the smell of raw meat

00:01:19.460 --> 00:01:20.820 align:middle line:90%
And arak.

00:01:20.820 --> 00:01:26.020 align:middle line:84%
You will get bored of
all these songs stamping

00:01:26.020 --> 00:01:28.040 align:middle line:90%
their dabkeh inside my head.

00:01:28.040 --> 00:01:31.740 align:middle line:90%
Walak ooff ooff ooff.

00:01:31.740 --> 00:01:34.300 align:middle line:90%


00:01:34.300 --> 00:01:38.060 align:middle line:84%
Do not call me cruel, say I
love my language more than

00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:40.460 align:middle line:90%
my love, my love.

00:01:40.460 --> 00:01:41.860 align:middle line:90%
I don't.

00:01:41.860 --> 00:01:45.040 align:middle line:90%
But you see, I'm already tired.

00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.240 align:middle line:84%
And you, you already
mistranslate.

00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:52.660 align:middle line:90%


00:01:52.660 --> 00:01:53.220 align:middle line:90%
Thank you.

00:01:53.220 --> 00:01:53.720 align:middle line:90%
All right.

00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:57.208 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:01:57.208 --> 00:02:00.700 align:middle line:90%


00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:02.410 align:middle line:90%
All right.