Khalid lmam, a Kano based bilingual teacher, poet, playwright and essayist has just returned from the Study Abroad In Lebanon (SAIL) programme as one of the ten selected Nigerian writers nominated by The Wole Soyinka Foundation. Imam, who is the Vice Chairman of the Association of Nigeria Authors and a member of the Board of Trustees of Poets In Nigeria (PIN), has written a thrilling poetic travelogue to keep alive the memories of many fascinating places of historical significance they visited in Lebanon.

The Cedars

(For Dr. Youssef G. Rahme)

Now I know

Joy is the memory

Our souls hold dear,

Tears the secret our minds treasure

Now I know

A garden is not an orchard

Full with dangling fruits,

A garden is truly the generosity in the

heart of a tree that shares its apples

Now I know

The cedar tree

Is special not just

Its straight neck

And its wings of eagle,

It is very dear to us for its comforting         shade

A visit to Lebanon

(For Professor Edward J. Alam)

Cascading valleys

Of diversities

Soaring range of hills

Fabulous civilisations:

So rich,

So unique

So pristine as Adam

Plentiful trees:

Edible,

Beautiful

Friendly

Dotting artistic

And stoic rocks

Dressed in green

Here is a valley

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Where all opposites

Coexist in peace

True, here is a haven

Where every one

Wears a rose smile

The sailors

Why is it

The hour of our hugging

Is the place for our parting

There, at the sea waiting

Is the ship of our sailing

Remember,

The tears of our parting

Become the feathers of our       regathering.

Since the plane of our parting

Could land at the airport of       Facebooking

Ballbek

Yesterday

Beautifully curves

With stones as mighty as elephants

As if to define the present

And predict the future

High the wings of all its temples soar

Like the arch of Hadrian at Tyre,

Above the mountains

Of Lebanon its greatness

Still stands

Smiling to the merrily sea

Astonishing stories

Of Heliopolis daring the roaring lions

No tale teller could tell

With the precision

Of Kahlil Gibran’s brush

Are daily dug beneath

The modern cities we walk