A House Next To Paradise



Posted: Sunday, September 27, 2009

by Tariq Elyas

A House Next To Paradise

I have a story to tell
of a house I have seen
next to paradise.
So rustic, so simple
with no disguise.

In its living room, there is a painted picture
of a lonesome heart brushed by heavenly music,
and I guarantee you there is no vice.

In its bedroom there is another picture
of a tree-house choreographed with magical
dancers of sea-shells, and
orchestrated by a Baliness batik in turquoise,
amid a painted sun about to rise.

Somewhere in the house, there is
a foreign aerodynamic object
marked by sea and sand wrinkles;
Next to an empty hollow of a black skin
eagerly waiting to be attached and form
a sea creature.

Through the windows,
we can hear whispers of
a crystal-clear turquoise object
of another world calling
for this creature, for
one more dance, please….
Come back to my womb, my son!

No resistance is there.
The sea creature is about
to be reborn a mermaid.

This mystical link
between the two is not
of a voodoo magic;
they need each other.

The proximity of a house
is an undoubted fate of
an ever-lasting love affair
between the two:
An alluring siren disguised
in sun-kissed blue sky form,
and the mermaid.

This house is next to paradise
And a sea creature of
human qualities lives there.
I know. I shook his hand last night

By Tariq Elyas

The 2008 Winner of Bundey Prize for English Verse
The poem was inspired by a wonderful trip to the West beach, South Australia, Australia on 17-02-2008. I wrote it the next morning at Border's while having my usual Mocha.
Mr. Tariq Faisal  Elyas holds two M.A.s from the United States, one in Applied Linguistics and another in American Literature and a graduate degree in TESOL.

Also, Mr. Elyas also has had a Chevening Fellowship in Intentional Law and Human Rights from University of Nottingham in England.  Mr. Elyas has worked as a freelance writer for the two leading English Newspaper in KSA-Arabs News and Saudi Gazette.  He has presented and published in various local and International conferences and journals. 

Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. And he is the Winner of 2008 Bundey Prize for English Verse from South Australia. His interests are: Global English, Humans Rights, International Law, Language Rights, and Pedagogy.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by David Pekrul
 2 years 230 days ago.
70 fans.
A wonderful descriptive poem of fantasy.
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