Poems

Chapter 12: THE ARABIAN SHAWL

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About This Book

A lyrical collection of short poems grouped by creative periods, ranging from intimate sketches of domestic and childhood moments to meditations on nature, the sea, love, loss, and memory. Many pieces blend concise, imagistic language with prose-like rhythms, alternating playful child verses and delicate elegies, and often evoke sensory detail—light, wind, flowers, and seaside landscapes—to explore fleeting moods and inward reflection. Several poems record quiet domestic scenes and grieving recollections, while others experiment with voice and form, producing both whimsical and mournful tones. The result is an intimate, varied sequence that emphasizes emotion, perception, and the small gestures that shape inner life.

THE ARABIAN SHAWL

“It is cold outside, you will need a coat—
What! this old Arabian shawl!
Bind it about your head and throat,
These steps ... it is dark ... my hand ... you might fall.”

What has happened? What strange, sweet charm
Lingers about the Arabian shawl ...
Do not tremble so! There can be no harm
In just remembering—that is all.

“I love you so—I will be your wife,”
Here, in the dark of the Terrace wall,
Say it again. Let that other life
Fold us like the Arabian shawl.

“Do you remember?” ... “I quite forget,
Some childish foolishness, that is all,
To-night is the first time we have met ...
Let me take off my Arabian shawl!”