The Garden of Allah

an actual desert in the Middle East

 

Sweet tea brewing on a twig fire

as I sit in a place of fear,

a vast sea without water

endless emptiness year after year

 

No landmarks to show where I've been

nothing remains but the heat,

sweat pours but the skin is dry

your brain on fire as you sit in your seat

 

Loneliness & infinity stretched as one

apparently, without limits in a vast place,

the Tuaraq, the Tubu with a sinister air

no innocent cheerfulness on their face

 

In such a place the djinns live

in its heart no life breathes as well,

though called The Garden of Allah

your mind thinks you're under a spell

 

Relics from the human imagination

full of creatures, traders & trickery,

lonely trees with roots 100 yards long

water where none is expected to be

 

From space, brilliant band of carmel & beige

 its beauty hides the blood of many a soul,

an Eagle declared war in 1802

do you see it now or do you still don't know?

 

 

1) Djinns--spirits who torment men's lives

 

2)Tuareq & Tubu--Nomadic tribes

 

3) Eagle declared war in 1802- The U.S.(Eagle) declared war ona group called the Beys in this area in 1802

 

4) Hides the blood of many a soul--untold number of people have died in the Sahara

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[kamikazebuterfli]

very interesting...good job!!!

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Leo,

Wonderful job. You have a wonderful poetic sense. The first stanza sets the mood--and what a mood. The second stanza continues to paint the desert, and then the remaining stanzas further fill in the picture with a number of references both to inner reflection, local mythos, and political events, tying the country to each individual, the country's culture, and to the rest of the world. This gives a cosmic perspective.

Highest regards,

Rick

[Emily Elizabeth]

Wow! My family are from Iraq, and for some reason this poem took me back there... what a beautiful, fantastic poem you've written... this reminds me of the beautiful, flowing eloquence the Arab poets write! What a great job!

[tina edwards]

very well written