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
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