Transit

Never arriving, never gone

In Beirut, a salon is called Cleopatra and repeats itself in Amharic. A shop paints INJARA across the glass. Saints printed in Addis wait in plastic sleeves beside a Last Supper.

For many who come here to work, the stay is meant to be temporary. Then it isn’t. A shop opens. A congregation finds a room. A language appears on a sign and stays.

They do not merge. They coexist.