Red these deserts – and free at last we roam;
\nBut we are exiles from our fathers’ home.<\/p>\n
Listen to me, as when you heard your father
\nSing long ago the song of other sands –
\nListen to me, and then in chorus gather
\nOn this frequency, as we cross these lands.<\/p>\n
From lone oases hid in sandy canyons
\nAtmospheres divide us, and cold of space –
\nYet still the blood is strong, my dear companions,
\nAnd we in dreams ride at a camel’s pace.<\/p>\n
We shall not tread again the wide and sandy plain
\nWhere naught but night protects us from the sun
\nNor gather in the souk to bargain once again
\nReturning to our tents when trading’s done.<\/p>\n
When last from great Damascus we had banish’d
\nThe infidels crusading through our lands
\nWe did not know our peaceful time had vanish’d
\nCorrupted by the oil beneath the sands.<\/p>\n
And so we fled, and insha’Allah have found
\nA desert world where we may roam at last.
\nBut still we turn, when calls to prayer sound
\nTo Mecca, to the homeland of our past.<\/p>\n
(Originally posted on Making Light<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Red these deserts – and free at last we roam; But we are exiles from our fathers’ home. Listen to me, as when you heard your father Sing long ago the song of other sands – Listen to me, and then in chorus gather On this frequency, as we cross these lands. From lone oases … Continue reading Martian Caravan-Song<\/span>