The Epic of Cooperstown

This Cooperstown poem records a visit to the town where Imad arrived expecting streets and found a question that had been waiting for him. Windows watch, the lake reflects the soul instead of the sky, every bench remembers someone absent, and the town asks its visitor who he has become; when he leaves, he finds that he is the one who stayed.

وصلتُ إلى كوبرز تاون...I arrived in Cooperstown...

لكنني لم أصل إلى مدينة.But I did not arrive at a town.

وصلتُ إلى سؤال.I arrived at a question.

كان ينتظرني منذ زمن.It had been waiting for centuries.

الشوارع لم تُرشدني.The streets did not guide me.

بل كانت تراقب خطواتي.They quietly observed my footsteps.

كل نافذة كانت عينًا.Every window became an eye.

وكل باب كان امتحانًا.Every door became an examination.

البحيرة لم تعكس السماء.The lake did not reflect the sky.

بل عكست روحي.It reflected my soul.

نظرتُ إلى الماء.I looked into the water.

فرأيتُ إنسانًا لم أعرفه.And saw someone I had forgotten.

في كوبرزتاون...In Cooperstown...

يصمت الحجر أكثر مما يتكلم البشر.The stones speak less than the silence.

وتحفظ الأشجار الأسرار.The trees preserve forgotten secrets.

ولا يستعجل الزمن أحدًا.Time never rushes anyone.

هنا...Here...

العمارة ليست جدرانًا.Architecture is not walls.

بل ذاكرةٌ تُبنى بالحجارة.It is memory built from stone.

والنوافذ ليست للضوء فقط.Windows are not only for light.

بل لتتأمل نفسها.They contemplate themselves.

كل بيت ينتظر أحدًا.Every house is waiting for someone.

وكل مقعد يتذكر غائبًا.Every bench remembers an absence.

وكل ظل يكتب قصةً.Every shadow writes another story.

لو جاء imad إلى هنا...Had imad walked here...

لما بحث عن القصر.He would not search for the Castle.

لبحث عن نفسه.He would search for himself.

لأن المدينة متاهة ضمير.For the town is a labyrinth of conscience.

كوبرزتاون لا تسأل: من أنت؟Cooperstown never asks who you are.

بل تسأل:It asks instead:

من أصبحت؟Who have you become?

وعندما غادرتها...When I finally departed...

ظننتُ أنني تركتها خلفي.I believed I had left it behind.

ثم اكتشفت الحقيقة.Then I discovered the truth.

أنا الذي بقي هناك.I was the one who remained there.

More epics on this subject are in the library's Buildings & Cities collection, and more essays in the journal's Buildings & Cities section.