THE LAWNS OF PARADISE
Dim road in Moscow’s winter taxi.
Maybe our Uzbek driver’s memory
Drifts to Bukhara,Samarkand and Tashkent:
The shifting sands and the caravan’s load,
Blue-gold minarets, mosaic tiled rooms,
Sunny desert oases along the Silk Road,
Bountiful grapes, scarlet pomegranate blooms.
30 December 2018
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Note
After I wrote this poem, I researched and discovered
a beautiful similar verse (translated) from the 16th century:
Poet Zayn ad-DinVasi (1485–1556), dedicated these lines to Tashkent:
“Oh, what a kingdom! None of the lawns of paradise
Can be compared with ancient Shash.
And the one who settled here for good
Will forever forget about paradise groves.
Perhaps, to die in Tashkent is better
Than to live a dragging life in another place“.
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