Phones had cords and could be used for hours at a time
Remember when …
CDs were a novelty that would never pick up
Remember when …
Friendships were written in stone and last a lifetime
Remember when …
All there was to worried about were end of year exams
Remember when …
Jewels were made of neon, leather and plastic
Remember when …
Chips and soda constituted a balanced diet
Remember when …
Sports were hobbies not obligations
Remember when …
Santa clause was real and the tooth fairy was giving
Remember when …
Life was an adventure waiting to commence
Remember when …
TVs were connected to antennas not satellites
Remember when …
Sport clubs were the place to be on a Thursday night
Remember when …
Destinies was written among the night stars
Remember when …
Cartoons were two dimensional and didn’t need words
Remember when …
Board games were the best group pastime activity
Remember when …
Summer vacations were three month and ended too soon
Remember when …
You couldn’t wait until you were all grown up
Remember when …
©Sherine Meshad, 14 June 2009
Those select few who go for the second choice though know that nothing can clear the mind and re-energize the soul as well as a chance to experience an unspoiled Cairo, one with big empty streets, a gentle teasing breeze and a calm demeanor.
With that in mind a few of my friends and I ventured to meet up with a group of early risers promising a biking tour. With no bike and rusty knees we yawned and grumbled throughout the drive over the 6th of October bridge, once we actually met with the group and managed to secure some bikes (some in acceptable conditions others in suspicious state), the day looked bright and sunny.
The saying “you never forget how to ride a bike” came to mind when after years of walking, driving and riding, I found my self on top of an old blue bike (in surprisingly good shape). pedaling through the streets of Cairo was just an exhilarating experience. The air seemed fresher and the trees a little greener and the cheerful, laughing mob just added to the experience.
I am not sure if it was the early hour, the gracious weather or just the novelty of the scene, but very few sneered at us, mostly car drivers were surprisingly gracious to a school of bikes crossing the street, and most passerby’s were amused at the site of the colorful flock of bikes sweeping though the empty streets.
Needless to say I now state on every media possible that I am the proud owner of a brand new bike. I can’t wait for the working week to be over so I can wake up bright and early, hop on my bicycle and meet up with my new mates to experience the exhilaration of good workout while enjoying my unspoiled homeland.
So if you forgot the joy of biking, how you couldn’t wait to go round and round … we are here to remind you that nothing compares to a bike ride!!
© Sherine Meshad, 15 April 2008
The Fairytale Untold
By Sherine Meshad
Do you think patience is a virtue?
Do you think silence is made of gold?
Do you think what they’ve always taught you?
Is all you ever need to know?
***
Do you think life is just a passage?
That the story has been foretold?
A mere narration of a script,
Whose words are written on planks of stone?
***
Do you think dragons live in dreams?
Trolls help to guard pots of gold?
Happy ever afters not made for movies,
True love endured as the tale unfolds?
***
Are we my friend measly observers?
Simple chess pieces placed on the board?
Awaiting our queue on the stage of existence,
To speak out lines, till the curtains fall?
***
©Sherine Meshad, 15 February 2008
Another memory gets recorded
The album of time holds a new photograph
***
Jeans shorts and a ponytail
Scrapped knees and a smile that’s rare
An old portrait from a fairytale
***
Childhood mates with toothy grins
Enfolded in friendship, protected by dreams
Living in a fantasy world, that’s evergreen.
***
A bundle of roses in anxious arms
Secret message wrapped in fragrance and charm
Capturing the affection of an unsuspecting mind
***
A day of beginning, a farewell to past
Armed with aspirations, dreams and hopes to broadcast
A sea of flying caps, cheers and speeches to last
***
White roses and a layered cake,
Kissing lovebirds dancing to a serenade
The perfect ingredients for an enchanted day
***
Old love that new, in an ancient couple’s heart
Years of laughs and tears, itched in with wrinkles and scars
Giving the impression, history has been kind
***
Palm trees bowing to a setting sun
Chanting a lone melody and swaying as one
Waving green branches in a farewell song
***
Flipping through life’s album,
Days and years surpass, with an adieu to existence,
We turn over the final photograph.
***
Cloaked emotions, wrapped in silk,
Tugged away in backs of closets,
Sheltered in darkness to be unveiled,
Once old wounds are healed and mended.
Old skeletons find means to slip past,
Lock and bolt to glide into unconsciousness,
Drifting past thoughts into dreams,
Escorting wariness in a midnight waltz.
Past and present seem no strangers
Distorted likeness of same self
Mirror images gawking at one another
Through a mudded glass screen of time
Passions pressing against a dame of regrets
Bounded by hurt and hurdled by anger
Dribbles through barriers as sands of time trickles
Drowning wounds in shrouds of the long-ago.
Shadows and darkness both take shelter
As rays of light seep through partially closed shutters
Washing away drowsiness and sweeping restlessness
Folding another layer of reality over remembrance and memories
***
Sugarcoated medicine,
Just as hard to swallow,
For while the taste is not as sour,
The tang is bitter still.
Gulped down with loads of water,
Difficult to toss it down,
The pill is jagged, rough and ragged,
Nothing can drown it out.
“Take your remedy so you get better”
A restless voice chant in my ear,
A little white pill will make it all better,
The pain will vanish… literally disappear.
Dependence anew will take its place
A comfort blanket to pull you through
For what could possible drown the blues
Quite like a sugarcoated pill or two?
***
Which are you, man or shadow??
Ever varying reflections of light,
Dark casted images, always trailing behind
Which are you, genuine or surreal??
A lie in actuality, manifestation of truth
Reality a refracted image, scattered on mirrory grooves
Which are you, victim or aggressor??
A bullet, the most effective conqueror of youth
War, the only means of establishing your roots
Which are you, pragmatist or dreamer?
A world with mortal wounds, in need of tender mending
Left alone too long, loses its essence of immortality.
***
© Sherine Meshad, July 7th2006
Dressed in new skin,
Bathed in the sun disks light,
It's not the earth that needs concurring,
It’s the human mind.
***
The world outside is just as twisted,
As the eyes see it to be,
A fresh prospect can carry with it,
New visions, unsullied dreams.
***
Life isn't black and white,
But in all the shades of gray,
Lies a truth easily forgotten,
One that helps you wake up each day.
***
For while heaven rests in forever
And the now is just a ride
It's for you to make it matter
It's on us to make it count
***
© Sherine Meshad, 28 Jan 2007
I blame it on the movies,
The dreamy gaze I see,
The river of wistful dreams,
flowing off course, running out to sea.
***
I blame it on the songs,
The twining of souls for life,
The one true love, the forever faithful,
The bliss coming from above.
***
I blame it on the books,
Land of words and woes,
The place where reality slips away,
And fantasies come true.
***
I blame it on the poetry,
Love serenades and ballads,
Promises of faithful love,
Vows of happiness eternal.
***
I blame it on the evening ski,
I blame it on the sea,
I blame it on the flirty winds,
***
No need to shout, when we know how to purr
The world is feral enough as is
No need for scuffles to be unleashed
***
Daughters of Eve, elegant and pretty
Sauntering the globe and making it giddy
Fashion is our friend, our ally, our comrade
Our comfort blanket when things go bad
Daughters of Eve, with manicured claws
Wrapped in gloves of silk, not to be exposed
Except if injured, wounded or used
True to our nature, we won't be abused
Daughters of Eve, mistook for frail
Gentleness a quality we hold quite dear
Benevolence a trait ought to be shared
An attribute as potent as it is misread
Daughters of Eve, truly blessed to be so
With chocolates for penicillin and true friendship as cure
For all the ailing we may suffer or endure
Eve has taught us well, how to get along in this world
Daughters of Eve, sisters of mine,
What joins us together is stronger than blood line
We share a passion for all things divine
A sisterhood as eternal as the daily sunshine
