A Lebanese professor told me the other day Shatila refugee camp was Beirut's Bronx of New York. He’d never been to Shatila or the Bronx but he described it as "a place where delinquents live because they cannot fit into normal society". In response I found this poem by Kiran Rajagopalan:
People should be scared of the Bronx not because it's "The Bronx." They should be scared of its scars For once they are seen they cannot be unseen. They should fear the freeway. They should fear the opened fire hydrants. They should fear the blaring music. They should fear the streetside shrines. They should fear the writing on the walls. For in a city that never stops they tell tales of the unsung and undead.
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