Weekly Poem: 'Brokenmusic'

**By Nathalie Handal** Maybe when you are ready for music             every instrument around is broken Maybe when you are ready for freedom             your heart can no longer beat Maybe when you grow madness             you find what you were meant to see Maybe if you show me             how desire begs play a tune in E minor             the slow river of wings will reveal itself. But it had to come to this instead:             a broken violin             the heart, unsolved             an argument with Jesus or Mohammed             --exile has its ways.             Now your breath is a flat tune             limping its way around             the wake of your mouth. "Nathalie Handal":http://www.nathaliehandal.com/ _is the author of two books of poetry, "The NeverField" and "The Lives of Rain," and is also the editor of "The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology" and co-editor of "Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond." She has also been involved either as a writer, director or producer in over twenty theatrical and film productions worldwide._