Aden - a poem

From the district of Khormaksar, to the Jebel of Shemsan.

(The mountains of the rising and the setting of the sun.)

Past the district known as Crater, on the road to Steamer Point,

In a Park they call Tawahi, an important deed was done....

 

Our scene is set in Yemen, once protected by the Crown,

In the ancient Port of Aden, at the foot of Araby,

Honoured and respected by the traders of the world,

As a staging post of commerce down the halls of history.

 

As time moves on the winds of change blow hot and cold by turns,

One constant truth: Things never are the way they used to be.

But he who does not heed the past is destined to repeat

The tragedies of yesterday, and suffer ignomy.

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The turn of time and those who ruled, each wrought a subtle shift

In character and culture and the way that life was led.

From the traders to the pirates to the magnates maritime,

Growing in importance, a strategic figurehead.

 

The British made the colony a proud protectorate,

To serve a growing Empire and extend their influence.

National ambition nourished private avarice,

Servicing the needs of greed and feeding affluence.

 

Colonialism proved to be a double-sided coin,

For every gain a loss may be perceived.

This disparity eroded trust, unrest began to spread

Negating all the benefits, once eagerly received.

 

When the communists took power, all things British passed away

And the map of Aden changed from pink to red.

The statue of Victoria from her pedestal brought down:

A pre-cast concrete icon was erected in her stead.

 

One set of values took their leave and others took their place,

Not all of which were changes for the good.

Equality is relative and, when it comes to trade:

It revolves around inequities, which must be understood.

 

So there was purpose in the way we took a backward glance

And set a symbol back upon her throne beneath a tree.

In respect, not praise, of history we witnessed on the day,

The statue of Victoria, restored for all to see.

 

Our past will always be part of who and what we are

And what we were and what we will become.

And so we leave a legacy to futures yet to be,

A rich and telling tapestry which cannot be undone.

 

Aden, June 2002 (Revised August 2002)