Category: Almanassa
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On a bewitching moment of hesitation
In a letter dated 1754, the English politician Horace Walpole wrote to a friend recounting the unexpected discovery of a lost painting he never thought he’d find. For the first time, at least as recorded, Walpole used the term serendipity to describe the event. The word, with a touch of liberty, can…
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Why Do Birds Forget Their Songs?
This piece was originally Published in Almanassa. Songbirds usually fail in their first attempts to learn how to sing. But they improve with each subsequent try. They learn their songs in much the same way a child learns to speak: by watching, trying, failing, and repeating until they succeed. A child…
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There is poetry in the southbound train to Upper Egypt
In recent days, I find poetry in places where poetry isn’t supposed to be. I suspect it’s because I’ve been steadily moving away from traditional notions of what is “poetic” and what isn’t. Some conventional poetry still stirs me, for its lyrical elegance or rhythmic sweetness, and I revisit it.…
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On Language, an Astronaut, and a Unicorn
This piece was originally Published in Almanassa. _ “I’ve Wasted My Life in the Void!” (Buzz Lightyear, a Toy, Toy Story) In the first encounter between Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, one of the film’s core conflicts emerges—one that is tied specifically to Buzz’s character. The world of…
Ahmad Gamal Saad-Eddin 