Thoughts of an ageing Royalist

Nuwara Eliya

Rail me back to Nuwara Eliya,
There's where the tea and the pears and berries grow.
There's where the streams trickle sweet in the springtime.
There's where the mist in the morning hangs low.

Drive me round the vast open spaces,
There's where the dairy and the meat and veggies grow.
There's where the horses neigh snorting in the sunshine.
There's where the flowers bloom brightly from their bough.

Walk me up old Piduru-tala-gala,
There's where the fauna and the wily old fox roams.
There's where the rocks are hewn all over nature.
There's where true peace reigns calm in our home.

Take me down to the lush green Plains.
There's where the birds and the bees and fauna go.
There's where the world seems to end in its lifetime.
There's where the beauty of life seems to flow.

Fazli Sameer,
Riyadh 2006

Tomorrow

Is there such a dayas tomorrow,
that will bring sunshine
and take away the rain
and the agony of pain
from this big blue marble
where humanity struggles
for survival
maybe, in vain?

Is there such a time
as the future,
that will change
the evil ways
and bring happier days
into hearts and minds
of each and evey kind
where life struggles
maybe, tomorrow?

Fazli Sameer,
Riyadh 2005


Lost in Time

We seem to be lost in time
busy with our commerce;
making money and building towers,
waging wars and reaping flowers.
What did our old folks do
in their lazy old lifetime
to bring forth such a generation
of humanity that seems to be
totally lost in time?

Fazli Sameer,
Riyadh 2005


SHIPS
Just a brief onversation,
over dinner;
Two Worlds had spun!

Two hearts, spoke
across a table;
Had so much fun!

Is it love,
or a loneliness;
that brings us together?

From up above,
He provides us;
A sweet scented savor!

We reach out,
so blindly, moving;
Away, out of sight!

Like two ships,
passing each other;
Through a stormy night!

Ministry of Defence, Seeb Camp, Sultanate of Oman, 1992


SANDS

I set foot on the sands of the Arabian Gulf
In Nineteen Seventy Nine;
The sands, since then, have swallowed me up,
And consumed all of my time;
My time has been spent, in work and in prayer,
Through the warm Arabian Nights;
The nights have exploded and lifted me up,
To wondrous towering heights.

The streets are all paved with 24K Gold,
In the mystic Middle East;
The Gold is so pure, spreading an array,
Of a gala sumptuous feast;
The feasts are so many and time has so sweetly,
Played on my favorite song;
The love songs of life, that keep on singing,
Moving me on and on.

The nights are lit up, from the skies above,
By a million or more stars;
The twinkling stars that shine out of the dark,
Are like watchful eyes from Mars;
The eyes that peer ‘neath black silk veils,
Of sweet and charming faces;
The faces of fortune, in oil rich sands,
Of sleek and flowing graces.

How many times have I left these sands,
To return and roost back home;
But the sands keep calling, luring me back,
To its great mosques and domes;
The domes that keep shining, reflecting the warmth,
Of the sizzling noon day sun;
The sun that keeps rolling, simmering the sand,
Around, almost everyone.

A Home away from home, is what I’ve found,
In these hot and burning sands;
The sands of time, that have kept me so close,
To these wonderful Arabian Lands;
The land of Prophets and a great belief,
That one man toiled and taught;
A teacher so mighty that none could defeat,
Even though, they, in vain fought.

Let me rest beneath the burning sand,
When my day is over and done;
Let my day be near, so I can lay my head,
Beneath the scorching sun;
Le the sun shine bright, through all of time,
In this beautiful bounteous land;
Let the land flourish and grow on to become,
A heaven on earth so grand.

Fazli Sameer,
Ministry of Defence,
Seeb Camp,
Muscat,
Sultanate of Oman 1992