Three Poems

Taxi from Al Hamra Fort

All along the road from Ras Al-Khaimah the land
lines stretch pole to pole through dust-dark air
as dromedary HGVs sail the highway sands.
An English-language billboard offers
'The Symphony of New Tomorrow'.
Grit-rich winds leave behind drift and furrow.

There is no old stone here or antique
fortress-city wall. All the tents packed,
the camel trains, tailing back, crooked-
necked, have moved on. Week after week
crane-topped hotel ziggurats reach Phase 3
on the Persian Gulf, staring out to sea.

Closer to Dubai airport, the taxi soon passes
busloads heading toward the building sites.
Best Deal Cleaning Company gasses
...