tarek chemaly
three books
2009
\_Front page
\_Strata
read
\_getting the news
  from poems
\_Archewallogy
\_Jnune 7 – 2009
\_earlier writings
(2002/2003)
(| EN | FR |)
o-----////()/---[getting the news from poems]------(| Tarek Chemaly · 2009 |)------¬ contents
Catcher in the Rhyme 2005

Back when we believed

Back when we believed,
And I can’t believe,
That we don’t believe anymore.

What shall we do with the slogans now?
What shall we do with the pins?
Or the wristbands, or the T-shirts or the scarves?

So many flags waved,
So many fears braved,
How do we get rid of them?
Where do we bury them?
And what if we need them once more?
In case we go back to believing.

Back when we believed,
We chanted and shouted,
And talked to strangers,
And mocked the dangers,
With luster in our eyes,
We claimed that we believed.

And now, we believe no more,
And wonder how come we once did,
Back when we believed,
And I can’t believe,
That we don’t believe anymore.

Mondays for manifestations,
And Tuesdays for sit-ins,
Wednesdays for night shifts,
Thursdays and Fridays for anticipation,
And then the weekend begins.

I think we eventually got sold,
I just hope they got a good price,
But well, for a time at least, it was nice,
Just to think that we actually believed.
96

Tarek Chemaly, “Back when we believed”, getting the news from poems (2009), p. 96.

Tarek Chemaly’s three books of 2009, published on 111101 with the author’s permission. getting the news from poems: layout Mike Awad. Archewallogy: design Farah Samman, cover Ashekman. Jnune 7 – 2009: with Rami El Khoury, Upstairs Publishing; photographs as credited on each page.