Malak El Halabi:
Lebanese writer and poet.
Born 1 October 1992.
I watched you storm towards the restaurant door. It was a chilly December morning and the birds sitting on the high wires in the neighborhood refused to fly any longer.
Someone observes another person walking angrily or emotionally away from a restaurant. The word “storm” suggests anger, frustration, or intense emotion. The deeper symbolism:
The birds refusing to fly – This is the most powerful element. Birds are meant to be free; they are meant to fly. But here they sit still on wires, “refusing” to move. This symbolizes: A paralysis in the air, as if even nature is reacting to the emotional tension. A feeling of hopelessness or stagnation. Something unnatural in the situation—when things that normally move stand still. The cold December morning – The cold reinforces the feeling of coldness, both literally and figuratively. December can also symbolize the end of something (the end of the year). The distance of the observer – The speaker watches but doesn’t intervene. There is a feeling of powerlessness, of only being able to watch as someone you love walks away. The emotional essence: The quote captures a moment of relationship breakup or emotional separation—so profound that even the world around you seems to freeze. It expresses how profound emotional grief can color and freeze the entire world. Source: The quote likely comes from the book “Raw with Love” by Malak El Halabi, published by Turning Point Books in December 2020. This is her first English-language poetry collection, which explores the Bermuda Triangle of lust, love, and loss.
