I am the son of a mother who loves me.
I am the son of a mother with a smoldering gaze, bloodied lips, and blackened eyes.

with a friend there is now always a listen, we got the visa,
dressed as words of triumph, awaiting congratulations. you’ll never guess who’s leaving! but i can.

When we leave

let there be no memorial

we do not want a cenotaph

barely remembered

لطالما بحثت في وطني عن السيادة، وجلت مطوّلا في ثنايا بيروت، ألتقط الأحوال الاقتصادية والسياسة وأرصد التحركات الأمنية والعسكرية، وأعود الى سريري فارغا من الأجوبة، ممتلئا بالتساؤلات هل كان يوما…

She dreams so big and high she built our house five times in her mind and made it house sixty thousand lives through fiction.

The castle’s still in the skyline…
The hot weather mutated itself; it became a soft breeze for you.
Come on, they are waiting for you.

Amjad Mrad, a Lebanese singer and songwriter, will be releasing his first single Sick of You, completely produced and written by him. Amjad’s life revolves around creating art, as he is a Television and Film student at the Lebanese American University (LAU) as well. He has performed multiple times on Documented Experiences’ stage and continues to engage with the artist community in Lebanon. The pandemic has provided him with the opportunity to focus on his music and expand his reach to an international audience. Along with the struggles that accompany being an artist in Lebanon, in this interview, we explore his personal journey with his country and artistry.

Your laughter echoes alive in the back of my mind
And your fumbled words lay heavy on my chest
Lifeless, my heart beats
Silently, my voice shrieks
And unbearably, my flesh depletes
I lay and bleed in broken colors

Arab is not just an ethnicity. It is a way of being situated in the world and a lens to be seen with. Being Arab, I feel a lack of sovereignty over my life. As an adult, I am, by the virtue of reason, able and supposed to have an independent character. But this is not the case.