Hejaz, Habibi

Delicacies beyond the tongue
Dust pastels the shining of the passing sun
Mountains green, unseen unbelieved
A shimmering sea can part, apparently
Revealing a jungle of biological treasure
It's worth in worth, hard to measure
From black boulders in Taif that pile up high
to sand dunes scattered in single file lines
From the sheet of sea trees breathing along the shore
to a red crescent resting between stars galore
From the lonely leopards lurking in the mountains
to street cats in Jeddah looking for fountains
From the sun's unrestrained, exclaiming x-rays
to the breezy AC deep-breathing all day
From the call to prayer in the wind
to the roar of balout about to begin
From a grateful way of saying thanks
to an everlasting and dated landscape
that blesses us with a date-filled taste
of life's unmistakably great mistakes

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Christopher Beaudoin is a poet based in KAUST, Thuwal.