Nonexistent Love

For most of my life, 
I’ve seen love as an abstract term 
People always seem to chase and anticipate  
Like the way the sun chases after the moon  
And the way that children anticipate the month of June 

For most of my life, 
I’ve believed that love is a word that can only be found 
in the shadows of people’s stories 
And in between the chorus of the bird’s melodies 
But never in empirical form  

However, 
That idea of nonexistent love 
Was all blown away the moment the wind no longer swept away my pain 
the children no longer spoke my language 
And I no longer remember my old self 

It took me a while to realize that
The idea of nonexistent love was never existent 
It was a world that was created because of fallen leaves and broken branches
But never because of nonexistent love to a place that I grew up in 

So now as I spend the other half of my life away from home 
Love will forever be 
The smell of my mother’s perfume 
And the sound of my father’s beating heart 

The idea of love became existent the moment I left Lebanon
And until I get the chance to walk in its streets again, 
I’ll forever speak of love when I think of you 
Beirut