He sold the idea to me
Come to Qatar
Great place
Great people.
I left the green land
of Aotearoa
and came to Qatar
dry desert
with it's own charm.
Now he is going back
he has had enough
Leaving for Australia
Home of the kangaroo
wattle and gum tree.
Go well my friend
remember us
in our hour
of need.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
The Qatar Poems - an explanation
Poetry is a very evocative reminder of ones life and adventures. I use this poetry blog as an electronic poetic journal. During my three yesrs in the UK I wrote many poems (see blog posts from 2008-2011). Back in New Zealand I wrote a series of outlaw and experimental poems as well as some regional poetry describing the Waikato around Hamilton. I am now on contract in Qatar and I am writing a series of Qatar poems that I will publish when I leave.
Apart from a short stint in Thailand, Qatar is the place that has been the most culturally different from my upbringing in New Zealand. I found that working in the US, UK and Australia was very close to living in New Zealand, but Qatar has been a complete change and cultural challenge. The first 3 months were very strange but after 7 months I found myself feeling at home. My wife joined me after 6 months and she is still going through the I hate Qatar phase. She is a country girl and I have taken her from a farmlet in the country to the deserts and dryness of Qatar. The adjustment has been dislocating for her but I recognise the cycle she is going through.
I'm sure I will look through these poems in years to come and they will strengthen my memories of my time here.
As I learn more Arabic, I am feeling more at ease. You will know this has infiltrated my mind when Arabic phrases make their way into the poems.
Peace
Grant
Apart from a short stint in Thailand, Qatar is the place that has been the most culturally different from my upbringing in New Zealand. I found that working in the US, UK and Australia was very close to living in New Zealand, but Qatar has been a complete change and cultural challenge. The first 3 months were very strange but after 7 months I found myself feeling at home. My wife joined me after 6 months and she is still going through the I hate Qatar phase. She is a country girl and I have taken her from a farmlet in the country to the deserts and dryness of Qatar. The adjustment has been dislocating for her but I recognise the cycle she is going through.
I'm sure I will look through these poems in years to come and they will strengthen my memories of my time here.
As I learn more Arabic, I am feeling more at ease. You will know this has infiltrated my mind when Arabic phrases make their way into the poems.
Peace
Grant
Qatar Poems - The Whanau Returns
From home they came
in the sky waka.
Wife and daughter
Back to the deserts
of lovely Qatar.
Leaving Aotearoa
with roimata,
Arriving in Doha
with roimata.
Tane whispered,
E whanau mā, haramai rā,
haramai.
Note: waka - canoe, Aotearoa - New Zealand, roimata - tears, E whanau ma, haramai ra, haramai - Family, Welcome, Welcome
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