An Ode for the Emirates by Bashir Goth

An Ode for the Emirates by Bashir Goth

I wrote the following poem in 2016 but  kept it under wraps not by design by accident until I remembered it today on the 50th National Day of the United Arab  Emirates, a country in which I spent many years of my life and career.

An Ode for the Emirates

Let Imraul Qais, Antra and yesteryear poets

Weep on their Atlal

On their blackened hearthstones

And sing an ode for the Emirates

Forget Abbasid Baghdad and its splendors

Its poets, its goblets, and its maidens

And sing an ode for the Emirates

Leave Umayyad Damascus and its domes

Its Byzantium palaces, its Udari poets

In the distant memory

And sing an ode for the Emirates

Weep not on the ruins of Al-Andalus

And its cities of light

The arches and tapestry of Al Hamra

And fountains of Madinat Al-Zahra

And sing an ode for the Emirates

***

Sing for the miracle, mythical

Meteoric rise of Abu Dhabi and Dubai

For the splendid beauty of Sharjah

For the elegance of Ajman and Umm Al Quwain

For the glory of Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah

For the Shimmering towers adorning the sky

For the highways and overhanging bridges

Stop and gaze in amazement and awe

At Arabia’s 21st century wonder

And sing an ode for the Emirates.

-Bashir Goth (2nd Dec. 2016)