Al-Dawhah (Doha)

The muezzins’ calls echo across the rooftops
and the last rays of claret sun sink below Dukhan.
Dusk passes fast here.
Lights flicker on across West Bay;
shades of azure, emerald, and ruby blazing
over a gulf of pearls and liquid gold.

On the bay, the neon-white-emblazoned dhows glide
tourists and Bollywood tunes across the water.
Dancing through the wash,
shoals of silver barracuda
lead us to where our eyes are lifted to the stars
as white pyramids rise to gleaming towers.

This is the city where stacked squares form stars.
Eyes gaze from the battoulah overhead,
Sentinel of the heartbeat of the Souq,
the soul where roses grow from the desert grains.
Ancient culture rising from sea and sand,
modern ambitions offering it to the sky.

By Sinéad O'Rourke