Assadoo (Weaving Art Of Arabian Gulf) Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

Assadoo (Weaving Art Of Arabian Gulf)

Rating: 5.0


The desert lies dreaming
As an Arabian night ages
Vagrant winds wander
Aimless on the sands
Drawing patterns intricate -
Nature's sublime assadoo

Men clad in bishts*
Languish in summer tents
Feeling important
Heavily perfumed
Waving rosaries
Their eyes glittering
Mystified by sheesha** fumes
Nurturing unknown dreams -
Secrets of sublime assadoo

A buxom beauty in burqa***
Her hand shading her eyes
An envy for mascara
Waiting at the door-steps
For her man to return
From a distant errand
Tired on camel back
Silhouetted against the sun
A big orange that sinks -
Dusk's sublime assadoo

Children scampering up and down
The ephemeral dunes
In the golden evening sun
Noisy as they hail
The distant water cart
Inching towards the village heart
From the far off end of land -
Life's beautiful assadoo

The mind returns to its hearth,
The great 'bayth assadoo' ****
Where the dark windy nights,
Dust, sun and cold,
Camel hooves on sand,
Rugged men holding falcons,
Damsels in chatter,
Kids with matted hair
Holding their mothers' attire,
All mingle on a weaving wheel
In a wonderful assadoo

The night-sky smiles down on the huts
As moonlight spreads across
The starry expanse above
Grace of God's great assadoo
_____________________________________________


* A gilded ornamental drape worn by men over their dress on special occasions
** Water-pipe hookah (hubble-bubble)
*** Loose black enveloping garment worn by Muslim women
**** House of assadoo - name of a museum in Kuwait where assadoo artefacts are on display

Assadoo (Weaving Art Of Arabian Gulf)
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: life
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Written April 2011 after a visit to Kuwait's famous Bait Assadoo museum
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Bri Edwards 13 January 2017

thanks for the notes and 'glossary-of-sorts', BUT, using Google, i am failing to find Assadoo/assadoo [other than this poem listed], yet i find Assado mentioned as at least one restaurant. Drawing patterns intricate - Nature's sublime assadoo.......these lines make me think that assadoo refers to patterns made in the desert..................................................sands by the wind(s) . but further references to assadoo in the poem leave me stymied. ; ( - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - rosaries.........i immediately think of old Roman Catholic women kneeling in a church! here is a definition which leads me to believe the poem's rosaries are strings of beads or books used for devotions in another religion. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Search Results ro·sa·ry ˈrōz(ə) rē/ noun plural noun: rosaries (in the Roman Catholic Church) a form of devotion in which five (or fifteen) decades of Hail Marys are repeated, each decade preceded by an Our Father and followed by a Glory Be. the congregation said the rosary a string of beads for keeping count in a rosary or in the devotions of some other religions. a book containing a rosary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - My friends Akhtar and Valsa seem to like the poem and understand assadoo. perhaps most Americans will be stymied. i'll look at another poem. thanks. bri :)

0 0 Reply
Akhtar Jawad 29 August 2015

What a wonderful description......................................

1 0 Reply
Valsa George 12 February 2015

An imaginative poet can weave any number of Assadoo in varying shades and patterns! Besides Nature's sublime assadoo and God's magnificent one, I wonder at the facile hands that could draw such wonderful assadoo with words! Enjoyed!

1 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success