A Power Within

Tag: Al Ain

Those Desert Days – Reunion Al Ain – April 2017

Desert Days.

To walk on desert sands, to feel the warmth of the rust coloured grains between your toes,
the magic of this gentle land will steal your heart to return once more…

this land will embrace you, it will fill your eyes with wondrous visions, this torpid heat, indolent, inert and lazy will slow your pace

the vivid clarity of light, the cobalt sky will relentlessly cover you, it will embrace you, it will open tired eyes to see much further than the desert sands…

the silence of the desert will calm you, it will intrigue and bring serenity but it could also fatally teach you respect!

surreal the colours of sunset, vibrant, bathed in reds, enhancing the beauty
as does the ‘call to prayer’ like a knell at parting day…

this diorama just a spectacular painting, where artist’s brush chooses to change hourly, as the desert changes its colours as if a chameleon

this rhythm and flow…this energy of life proves as natural as breathing,
the colours mock and tease us, pumpkin, magenta, vermillion, amber, all colours of the palette are here,

it is haunting, a delightful sanctuary, a restful utterance of joy which speaks to me,

it is meditative, it is a powerful authority, so often the face of courage,

it is the desert, for It is the desert…

“The Months Fly By “

The months fly by or so it seems these days. It can hardly be almost three years since the last desert reunion and my poem written of this time, of our meeting in London, but it is. This coming April I plan to return to the desert once again back to the garden city of Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates. How exciting this will be after first going their 32 years ago. It will be nice to see old friends once again and to view the amazing changes made to this arid land of sun and sand. My poem of the last reunion is shown here:

Reunion – Jewels Nightclub – Piccadilly  London April 2013.

I Walked In The Sun.

Najood heaven.

Najood heaven.

image

I walked in the early morning sun
and thought of you…
I was filling my mind,
I was contemplating a plan
you know, the sort that
gives you joy, faraway places
the sand between your toes,
that kind of plan.

You invaded my mind
as you often do,
I saw you clearly, dark eyes
that smile…
What would you think of my plan?
but I already knew the answer,
“go do it girl”

I walked in the sun…

The Reunion by Susie Hemingway Moursi

The desert came to London that Saturday in April.
From far and wide, from each corner of our beautiful world,
friends gathered to relive the halcyon days of heat and sand.
Those dusty days and joyous lives merged together to remember
the ‘living’ we did amid the shimmering red desert of Al Ain.
Groups gathered in earnest chatter, champagne flowed, exchanges made.
We peered at name badges, we looked at faces changed with the passing years.
How good to meet again, how good to say “hello” after all this time,
so much to mention – so much to remember… so many images to recall …

 

One hundred and thirty old friends converged on a London night club,
for ‘Jewels’ we all are! To reminisce we must  – to reminisce we did.
For were we not the pioneers of those desert days?
For did we not help shape things to come?
“I knew your husband” one sweet man said.
 “I remember your face” said another.
We squealed with delight when across a close friend we came.
Pretty ladies exchanged their gifts of words, their memories and their smiles,
as music from those ’80’s days played loud and clear,
our thoughts returned to the hot indolent days and torpid nights
of our treasured paradise, merging with the vibrant dancing that was now.

 

Handsome men stood together, enjoying their beers,
remembering Rugby on stony terrain and Hash House Harriers
running through ‘najoods’ in  boiling arid heat.
Oh yes not much was forgotten at the desert reunion!
Sweet memories of twinkling nights atop Jebal Hafeet,
the tastes and smells of the “Golden Sheep” “The Hilton” and “The Intercont”.
Cooling sun- downers at the end of a sweltering day,
the brushstrokes of these clear memories like a perfect piece of art.
Friends made in a life together under a turquoise sky,
bonds made in this desert oasis that will not be broken even though years pass.

 

Our laughter in London was an echo of past times,
still beautiful now with the changing years.
Stay well dear friends until we meet again…
 
 
Susie Hemingway Moursi

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