The Eyes And Back Turn Upward by Hanna Khouadra

The collection aimes to reflect the impermanence of life, where elements come and go, and change is the only constant. It's an ode to the fleeting nature of our existence, and an exploration of growth, decay, and transformation. The phrase "The eyes and back turn upward" is part of the opening lines of T.S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land." "At the violet hour, when the eyes and back Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits Like a taxi throbbing waiting, I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives, Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea, The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights Her stove, and lays out food in tins." The cyclical and ever-changing nature of life is implied in this passage through the description of daily activities—people leaving work, returning home, and engaging in domestic rituals. The act of turning one’s eye and back upwards is an example of this, which captures the essence of the universal experience of people disengaging from the external world, suggesting a cyclical rhythm of work, rest, and reflection that characterizes the constant change Hanna strives to encapsulate within her collection.