Do you remember?
Our island in the sea?
Barren…
Sandy…
Humid..
But home to you and me?
Do you remember?
Our houses squat and square?
White walls providing refuge
From burning, scorching air?
The hum of cooling motors,
Polished wood beneath our feet,
Work on kitchen table,
And friends within to meet?
Do you remember?
Gardens wrestl’d by human hand
Ringed with bitter hedges
Defeating driest desert sand?
Within, sharp grasses spread out,
Precious water piped to roots,
Hollyhocks,
Scented jasmine,
Defiant blossoms, Heavenward shoots
Do you remember?
Nodding horizons, burning flares?
Coal coloured, deep earth riches,
Hunting falcons, racing mares?
Our island embraced a tapestry
Of mankind in its care
Every nation, every people,
Every ilk...
In that little piece of Eden...
On that road once paved with silk.
Remember...
That wondrous place of old,
That lies in deepest memory
Cradled gently in each fold.
Where light is soft and filtered
Through gauze of passing time.
The greatest gift it gave me
Was when it knit your life to mine.
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