The Autumn Of Injustice
“What is justice, baba?”
“Insaaf”
“Insaan?”
“Insaaf”
“Insaaf”
“Yes, Insaaf. It’s when you eat and hunger disappears. When you drink and thirst disappears. When you put marham and the wound disappears”
“Like how people say you disappeared?”
“Hahaha, Oh you’re making good jokes, Marwan. You get that from your dadu. Do you know that?”
“Dadu keeps pinching my cheeks, says he likes when they turn..”
“Pinkish….. I know. He’d do that to me too”
“He keeps standing in front of the police station with big cardboards”
“Is that where you read ‘Justice’?”
“Yes, everyone keeps asking for justice. Is justice found in the police station, baba?”
“I don’t know, my dear”
“Is justice locked up too, baba? Has it disappeared too?”
“I don’t know, Marwan. I wish I knew”
“Hmmm..did you not see it when you were there?”
“Oh yes, I met justice for a short while.”
“What does it look like?”
“Like an old pashmina shawl with bullet holes”
“A shawl with holes. It’s useless?”
“No Marwan, it’s still the most comforting thing in the world…. Justice”
“What is injustice, baba?”
“Na-insaaf”
“Na-insaan”
“Na-insaaf”
“Na-insaaf”
“it’s when you drink water but remain thirsty, you eat but remain hungry. When your wounds refuse to heal no matter how much marham you put.”
“…”
“It is the theft your rights. ”
“Rights?”
“Yes, Marwan. Rights. The right to have your thirst quenched by water, your hunger satisfied by food…”
“your wounds healed by marham”
“Yes, Nafsam. Na-insaafi is the suffering of a suffocating man who was promised fresh air.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
marham = Medicine
Nafsam = My breath (Term of endearment)
