The Desert

Writer: Anthony Salandy

Editor: Doaa Saady

Artist: Shams Mohammed


Twirling sands grace the grand abyss.
That is the peninsula that brought,
A dominant theology to this world.

For amongst the sprawling dunes,
Stand succulent palms that have stood.
Amongst this barren world,
Long before black gold began to secrete.

A strange opulence so far removed,
From the once sacred values,
That predated the splendor.

That overtook the seafarers,
And grand pavilions of Kings,
Whose palaces were mere shelters.

For their nomadic activities,
Against the rising sands,
That blinded and consumed,
All those who dared to challenge it.

But now coastal cities dot,
The once silent desert.
With a grandeur so similar,
To that of ancient Babylonia.

That one may see,
A mere reincarnation,
Of the wealth and power,
That once grew deep in the desert.

That now stands the testament of time,
If only in memory of all the lives lost,
And tribes brought to ruin,
Amongst a desert ever changing.

But resolute in its existence still.