A great, feisty Syrian blogger, Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, who went by the name Gay Girl In Damascus, has been disappeared. Some twenty-something goons, assumed to be agents of Assad, grabbed her on the street. Her last post was a poem, which just brought tears to my eyes. It’s worth reprinting in full:
The bird flies free
Knowing no boundaries
Borders mean nothing
When you have wingsMy heart and my soul
Long to follow and soar
Out over mountains
And deserts and seasI have no wings
And earth presses in
Wrapped in a sheet
Forever to lieWeighed down by dirtclods
Never to feel
Wind on my wings
Sun on my backSoaring and flying
Freedom is coming
Here am I wanting
To know it one day
Pray for her, wherever she is. And for the people in her country, who are yearning to fly.
The Dish 