We all want to watch the sunset
at the beautiful Greek Island of Santorini.
It melts over the horizon
warming the blue water into red,
and its orange color
is washed away by the waves
to the shore, to submerge the rocks slightly
delivering the whispers of the sun.
We all want to watch the sunset in Santorini.
“If you have the money, you can go”
and we go, and we go …
“32 Million tourists visited the Greek Islands last year”
Sunset at Santorini was obscured by the thousands of cameras and selfies
We all want to watch the sunset in Santorini,
but we end up watching our little screens
and an ocean of hands and phones,
taking selfies and posting
hashtagging and liking
and checking boxes on bucket lists
before we die and decompose.
We all want to watch the sunset in Santorini
as if it is not the same sun that sets behind our allies
and through the kitchen window, over the empty bottle of olive oil,
and we end up crowded on a mountain
with our thousands of Chinese made sandals
and korean phones
taking photos of the emptiness of the moment
gathering like ants over a piece of chewed candy
trying to move it into our social media,
so we can believe it when others do.
“It is rush hour on Mount Everest”
The world’s highest peak.
Attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act
a triumph of desire over sensibility,
yet,
“If you have the money, you can go.”
said Todd Burleson, founder of Mount Everest guide services.
so we go, and we go,
and now people die, standing in line
for a selfie on the highest peak on earth
where oxygen is scarce
and you are a feets away from a free fall
into the gravity that keeps us human.
We all want to climb mount Everest
as if the struggle to help a friend grow
or to remove injustice from a neighbor
or to fight for the right of self determination
or standing against the wrath of capitalism
or trying to subdue the voices in your head
is not the highest peak on Earth.
Musee du Louvre Twitter:
“Museum Closed Today
Due to a recent increase in visitor numbers
members of Musee du Louvre’s Reception and Security staff
are exercising their right to strike.”
We all want to visit the Louvre
and see the Mona Lisa.
“If you have the money, you can go”
so we go, and we go …
and we walk past Joseph William Turner’s Slave Ship
and Gericault’s The Raft of the Me Dusa
looking for the Mona Lisa
and when you find it
you will be standing at the ocean of hands and phones
taking photos and selfies
and checking bucket lists
before they die and decompose.
“What to say about visiting conditions
when people are confronted with noise,
trampling,
crowds,
extreme fatigue”
We all want to watch the sunset in Santorini
Wissam
6-7-2019
Wissam Charafeddine 