Poem: Dreaming of desert voyage
Be my bride, companion and lover?
Leave your family and all your friends?
Just the two of us – there will be no other.
We’ll climb the world’s highest mountains,
And look down on the green of the world.
We’ll sit on the summit and drink life’s wine,
Then soar with eagles above clouds unfurled.
We will swim the world’s greatest rivers,
Shoot the rapids and white waterfalls.
In the oceans we’ll sail with the flying fish,
And listen to the whale’s mating call.
The deserts we cross will be desolate,
With green oases dotted here and there.
Linked together by long camel rides,
Divided by the magic of the Arabian night air.
We will go where linnets and skylarks sing,
Where in the evening the nightingales flow.
Where bluebirds nest on the high white cliffs,
And the sun warms the flora and fauna below.
Then, when we grow tired and a little wiser,
We will relax in a comfortable armchair;
And dream of the things we almost achieved,
And promise we’ll achieve them next year.
Albert Armstrong,
Percy Street,