Tears for the Souq of Damascus

On the road to Damascus

I dreamed of the Souk

The delicious biscuit, barazeh

The over powering smell of maazoot

 

Souk El Hamadeyeh’s narrow lanes

Shoulder rubbing lanes of fabric

Copperware, clothing, underwear

The silversmiths, surely do reign

 

Traditional foods and modern cuisine

Great fashion and jewellery

Syria, home of pure cotton

High-rise buildings add to the scene

 

Mar Yohanna’s historical church

Now a mausoleum

The ancient culture of bathhouses

With so many hot pools

 

The roadways travelled into Damascus

Included Lawrence of Arabia

History that was made in Damascus

The oldest capital city in the Middle East

 

The hustle bustle at each roundabout

The Souk’s coffee carts and peddlers

An adventure to El Souk El Hamadeyeh

One will never forget

 

Sadly Damascus, partially razed

History and antiquities on the ground

Return to your people, Damascus

Allow their hearts to pound

 

In 1979, Suzanne Packer, a media/education consultant, moved to Lebanon from New Zealand with her two young sons and her husband at the time. Tears for the Souq of Damascus was taken from ‘Simply Thinking, Dreaming, and Things’, Suzanne’s second book of poetry, published in 2016. Suzanne now lives in Melbourne.

Email contact: Suzanne Packer <suzannemaraea@gmail.com>

From ‘Beloved Syria – Considering Syrian Perspectives’, 2nd Issue, September 2017

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