The Golden Journey to Dubailand
In tribute to James Elroy Flecker, who died well before his time.
At the Gate of National Paints Roundabout, Sharjah. Blazing humidity.
THE MERCHANTS
(Together)
Away, for we are ready to drive far!
Our camels sniff the traffic roaring by
Lead on, O Taxi Driver from Sharjah,
Lead on the Commuter-Pilgrims to Dubai.
THE CHIEF DRAPER
Have we not Carrefour rugs of nylon fine?
Cheap shalwars for a worker's salary
And Versace of Karama design,
And keffiyahs from Al Jaber Gallery?
THE CHIEF GROCER
We have shawarmas, we have shish kebabs,
Hummous and pickles ready for our meal,
And Umm Ali in great big sloppy slabs
And chocolate-coated dates bought from Bateel
THE PRINCIPAL JOURNALISTS:
And we have newspapers of Tecom style
By weary expat hacks; we have words
And adjectives and adverbs to beguile
And turgid press releases for the herds
THE MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
But you are nothing but a load of hacks
PRINCIPAL JOURNALIST
Sir, even dogs have daylight, and they paid us cash in brown envelopes.
MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
But who are ye in rags and rotten shoes,
You blue-boilersuited, blocking up the way?
ISHAK
We are the labourers, master; we shall work
Always a little longer; it may be
Fifty degrees in shade but we won't shirk
High up our scaffolding beside the sea,
Sharing a dirty squat in Sonapur
Unpaid and weary in the endless sand
Every day another to endure
Building the Golden City of Dubailand
HASSAN
Sweet to drive out from Sharjah every morn
When gridlock is gigantic on the sand,
And loudly through the traffic honk the horn
Along the Golden Road to Dubailand.
ISHAK
We surf the internet in the free zone;
For blocks and bans are more than we can stand:
For lust of knowing what should not be known,
We bypass the Golden Proxy of Dubailand
MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
Open the gate, O watchman of the bachelor-free apartment block!
THE WATCHMAN
Ho, sandlanders, I open. For what land
Leave you this dim city of no delight?
MERCHANTS
(With a shout)
We take the Golden Road to Dubailand!
Comments
At the Gate of National Paints Roundabout, Sharjah. Blazing humidity.
THE MERCHANTS
(Together)
Away, for we are ready to drive far!
Our camels sniff the traffic roaring by
Lead on, O Taxi Driver from Sharjah,
Lead on the Commuter-Pilgrims to Dubai.
THE CHIEF DRAPER
Have we not Carrefour rugs of nylon fine?
Cheap shalwars for a worker's salary
And Versace of Karama design,
And keffiyahs from Al Jaber Gallery?
THE CHIEF GROCER
We have shawarmas, we have shish kebabs,
Hummous and pickles ready for our meal,
And Umm Ali in great big sloppy slabs
And chocolate-coated dates bought from Bateel
THE PRINCIPAL JOURNALISTS:
And we have newspapers of Tecom style
By weary expat hacks; we have words
And adjectives and adverbs to beguile
And turgid press releases for the herds
THE MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
But you are nothing but a load of hacks
PRINCIPAL JOURNALIST
Sir, even dogs have daylight, and they paid us cash in brown envelopes.
MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
But who are ye in rags and rotten shoes,
You blue-boilersuited, blocking up the way?
ISHAK
We are the labourers, master; we shall work
Always a little longer; it may be
Fifty degrees in shade but we won't shirk
High up our scaffolding beside the sea,
Sharing a dirty squat in Sonapur
Unpaid and weary in the endless sand
Every day another to endure
Building the Golden City of Dubailand
HASSAN
Sweet to drive out from Sharjah every morn
When gridlock is gigantic on the sand,
And loudly through the traffic honk the horn
Along the Golden Road to Dubailand.
ISHAK
We surf the internet in the free zone;
For blocks and bans are more than we can stand:
For lust of knowing what should not be known,
We bypass the Golden Proxy of Dubailand
MASTER OF THE CARAVAN
Open the gate, O watchman of the bachelor-free apartment block!
THE WATCHMAN
Ho, sandlanders, I open. For what land
Leave you this dim city of no delight?
MERCHANTS
(With a shout)
We take the Golden Road to Dubailand!
Comments
Labels: poetry
18 Comments:
interesting attempt... too abstract for the simple folk perhaps.
Thank you. The original is such a beautiful poem (play in fact - though I haven't read the entire thing), I hope a few more people click the link and discover it.
Damascus!
The oldest continuously inhabited city in the world!
What a lovely poem that is (the original one, I mean)
Literature...lovin' it...In the spirit of Oz and Cantebury Tales....
Ah damn it, I have to dump all my home work this weekend and dig up literature.
This sounds like a fun-filled Easter weekend :)
I hate those unhygienic shawarmas and gross pickles.
That was a great rendition!
Parody, eh?
IIII am the very model of the modern . . . Ouch! Stop that! Alright already!
Oh god I LOVE that poem - and I didn't even write it, it was by a commenter. Of everything I've ever published I think that was the funniest.
Has anyone seen this?
This blog seems to be the documenting some strange sightings in dubai:
Text to be displayed
-M
Has anyone seen this?
This blog seems to be the documenting some strange sightings in dubai:
Sightings in Dubai
-M
Quite quite brilliant. Hurrah for The Gates of Damascus and perhaps an equally big hurrah for the author of this brilliant rendition.
Look at Samarkand now. Once a famed city now a dump. Could the same fate await Dubai?
To anonymous 22 March, 2008 10:51...Text to be displayed:
Come ooooooon!!!!!
Can't believe ppl still think monsters and dragons exist.
In video 2 there's a witness saying:
It was a dragon, it was right in my office!!!! It was huge it was massive it was unbelieveble!!!
Gues he has a very big office?
lmao....
SD - looks like du users can now access your blog now - yippee!
plaxo.com is now blocked along with you!
WHY?
''Gordon Brown and French president Nicolas Sarkozy are to urge banks to come clean about their bad debts in a bid to beat the global credit crisis''
amerika is collapsing and you're still over there hahaha
plaxo.com is now blocked along with you!
WHY?
God forbid that someone in the UAE should be allowed to store the contacts of business colleagues and share their address book between their laptop and mobile phone.
It could only lead to moral armageddon!!
"The UK faces prolonged economic misery from the impact of the credit crunch, a leading business organisation has warned."
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