One day

One day, I woke up for the first time. Everything around me was the same, except it wasn't; I had just woken up in my house as a young child for the first time.

One day, I had passion to wrestle every object with sheer enthusiasm and interest. The screams of war did not haunt me.

One day, The Tukki tree (I have no idea if that fruit exists commonly outside Iraq) was cut down. My childhood favorite fruit seized to exist.

One day, We had to move to a small room in Kerbala due to the war and security situation. My once favorite city was torn from me.

One day, my father came and hugged my mother. I didn't know he was my father and he, not myself as his son, due to his work abroad.

One day, I woke up and he wasn't there. He had gone back to resume his work abroad. I had lost my father again.

One day, I was walking to my school doors as I came across a killed school driver whose car of little girls was kidnapped away from their mothers' arms. I lost my innocence.

One day, I stopped feeling happy. Everything seized to be vivid anymore and I settled for it. I lost my happiness.
One day, my sister came into the room to listen to English music. I discovered a passion which eventually, developed into now-necessary skill to navigate the world with ease. I learned English.

One day, I travelled to America, and living there for a month, I lost my sense of patriotism towards Iraq. I learned there are better ways to live. I became aware.

One day, the exchange program ended, so I got back to Iraq. I spent the next three years volunteering to fight back against everything bad in my community. I had hope.

One day, I became an international student in Malaysia. I got a new home.

One day, I got I decided to go back to Iraq to work and abandon my dreams of living abroad. I gained knowledge of how global economy works and the reality of dreams.

One day, things got bad and foreign forces were back at play. I lost hope again.

As Bob Dylan once said "There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men, they drink my wine
Plowman dig my earth
None were level on the mind
Nobody up at his word
Hey, hey
No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late, hey
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl."

Insanity is often defined as doing the same thing over and over again desiring a different result.

Sometimes, one day is all you need.

San Algamal