JOURNEY

The Journey

I see trees

filled with green

swaying in the wind;

like people on the move

arms waving sadly in goodbyes,

telling me a story that someday soon

the journey will end with that final stop;

at that station that seemed so far, far away

only a few decades ago, when we laughed and romped

across those asphalted lanes back home on rickety bicycles,

wielding that cricket ball crashing through someone’s glass pane.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

RAIN

Rain

The rain

comes pouring

down upon the roof,

rapping like hip-hop music

mingled with the background of

flowing water running through the

yard, making multitudes of drains along;

while we fold paper boats and send them sailing,

soaking in the beauty of a cold wet morning outside,

while Mum screams out to everyone to get inside the house

and dry up before she yells for Grandpa and brings the roof down.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

MANGO TREE

The Mango Tree

The mango tree, she

stands, so proud and tall;

reaching her branches out afar,

tempting our tongues with succulence,

needling us to pick up that stick and belt it

upwards reaching for the sky and bringing her offspring

down to earth where everyone scrambles to pick up and chew,

enjoying the fruit of this bounteous earth; she asks for nothing in

return for the gifts she chooses to give; us hungry young hearts and

greedy gastronomy; while she blesses the rain for her daily sustenance

and spreads out the shade for our own existence; do we thank her at least?

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

DAYS

Days

Where,

have all those

days of wine and roses

gone, to memories of an era

forgotten by everyone who lived

in those times and enjoyed the beauty

of a wondrous life that was filled with honey

and sweetness of a generation that knew no difference

in ethnicity, race, religion, or color that divides humanity

across the globe in every single nook and corner of every continent

leaving us to remember and contemplate a life that has lost its gentle flavor?

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

DAD

Dad

You were there

when the lights dimmed

around me and enveloped the

air into a darkness, that was so still

and cold and hungry in the twilight of

my life that moves silently along through

days and nights of work and sleep, like a train

trudging through the hills and dales of a lifetime

filled with so many wonderful thoughts and memories

that we shared together amidst ups and downs that came along

and kept us alive in this revolving globe that rolls along until eternity.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

TEARS

Tears

Why do we

cry, sometimes

even though we are

grown up and getting old?

having seen so many years go by

leaving us in the past and hoping to

see even more; possibly, in the future

as time ticks slowly on, taking us deeper

into places that we’ve never been before;

wishing sincerely that the sun will shine brighter

tomorrow, showering real peace and comfort around.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007  

DREAM

Dream

Now I see,

that it was just

a dream that took

a while to unfold; and

make me realize that I was

sleeping for so long in my own

little world, filled with sunshine and

laughter, sadness and thunder, drifting

in waves across the skies mushroomed in clouds

and rain; grappling with that brolly that was keeping

me safe, amidst a world that was struggling with its desires.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2007