Though there’s mystery beyond my dreaming,
Yet, in that mystery I love to dwell.
Every time, I visit Sheikh Saeed Maktoum’s House,
By the Creek in Shindagha,
Something… something… something…
Rich and beautiful,
I readily make for myself.

 

This particular meeting recalled me
To sign up for more memories;
Inside each room, the old eternal glory
Of challenges inspired my spirit,
As we moved along.
I recounted the heroic feats once more,
Through the speed of fast history’s
Black and white photographs.

 

What do I offer in return to this place,
Where I no longer come and go,
As a tourist, or a traveller?
To the House of Sheikh Saeed Maktoum,
By the Creek in Shindagha,
I tender what I cherish so much in my life:
Both: Poetry and Prayer.

 

That evening carried everything before my eyes!
The freedom I felt there was freer
than a thousand poets’ verse.
And the prayer had struck up a chant
on its own, in my heart.
Towards the open spaces of the courtyard reigned:
Peace… peace… peace…
And the first star of dusk merged me in its full radiance.

 

12th February 2009

                          

Geeta Chhabra

 

From the book: An Indian Ode To The Emirates by Geeta Chhabra