2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025…
These were the years of war I lived through; years that etched unhealing wounds into my soul and left scars that time cannot erase. I survived them by the grace of God, only to be one of the luckiest among the dead in the epic of existence; the fragments that escaped the maw of nothingness. Yes, indeed I survived so that I shall be a witness to all that once was.
(Saturday 07/10/2023)
The inferno has ended. I emerged from it with my full sanity and humanity, even though I felt my soul had been crushed to the very last breath. And yet, I am to face the grief of never being able to see the ruins of my house and embracing my devastated neighborhood; A wound that will remain lodged in my heart and will never heal. Mercy upon the soul of my sister, Wafa, and upon all the martyrs who left us, leaving behind an immense pain that will never be forgotten.
Today, I find myself at the end of a long series; the final chapter of a story in which I no longer have anything to tell you.
A weary soul, yet always grateful, even if unsure of its ability to survive after all this.
Najia Mahmoud
Sunday 19/01/2025
(Text written after the declaration of the ceasefire)
