If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English

by Noor Naga

If a fly rubs its hands delightedly all over your excrement, is it a compliment or an offense?

when it is me on the other side of the door, asking to be let in.

downtown. She says she needs light in order to breathe, as though she were some kind of sun-eating rose, says she wants to let the sky into the rooms, says, I’m not naked, what is there to hide? Said not says.

All these years, I never once complained about my little home on the roof. Only now, looking back, do I realize how terrible it is to subsist on just enough, without the joy of beautiful things.

Instead here I am standing on the 6th of October Bridge praying for a glimpse of her in the distance, clothed, in broad daylight … At this point, even that would be enough. I don’t need to reinsert myself into her life, so long as she is safe and happy, so long as I can know she is safe and happy. And if she is not … If she is not, all I need is a glimpse.

remembering how many sugars everyone takes and to save the tea bags as food for the houseplants, putting them on an upturned jar lid by the sink, because one use is not enough in America. They must also be disemboweled and buried in dirt.30