14 July - My neighbours left this morning after a frightening night of bombing raids on the suburbs. I’m alone in the building, surrounded by the humming of the generators that provide electricity a few hours a day. I put on a record by Marianne Faithfull in an attempt to drown the sound of the planes but I soon take it out: incompatibility of situation ? I think of my girlfriend in Alexandria who certainly worries like mad. I check my e-mails. No message from her among the ads for “Viagra”, “Cialis” and “Enlarge your Penis”, but one from a friend abroad who worries about me: “I don’t know what to say, there’s no such thing as a greeting card saying ‘Sorry, your city is under siege’ but I just want you to know you’re on my mind’.” (33x40)
Beirut
2006