LITTLE DESERT ISLAND

Little desert island larger than it seems, 

Bahrain, Pearl of the Sea.

Such a multitudinous diversity of callers

Beckoned to your sandy shores, since antiquity.

Your Siren sounds on salty winds seduced the early Dilmun, 

Hardy Asian traders, Portuguese invaders, 

Western speculators, Saudi holidayers,

Welcoming all visitors as one.

Americans and British. Indians, Pakistani,

Filipino, Thai, and Chinese in the mix.

One tiny island’s unique blend,

Of Muslim, Christian, Jew, 

New friends on this island by the sea.

Differences accepted, all faiths respected,

Spices in a savoury dish of cultures.

Distinctly individual, yet woven altogether

In a multi-coloured island tapestry.

Little isle with melodies, of music all around,

The sound of Islam’s call to prayer

Echoes off the silent stones of Arad’s lofty fort,

As sunset silhouettes its majesty.

Then later as the stars come out, to celebrate the night,

The fort resounds with newfound melodies,

 A magic fantasy of earth’s reigning artists 

Gathered in this tiny island space.

 Poets, singers - dancers, instrumentals, 

Medleys floating far cross the sea.

Iftar feasts and joyous Eids with Bahraini friends, 

Western New Year, and Chinese with Christmas intertwined.

Shawarmas in Adliyah, 

Bargaining at the Souqs,

Tex- Mex at Senor Paco too.

Dining, dancing, laughing many nights away,

Always something new and interesting to do

Perfect as this sounds,

No man’s land is so.

But of all the places in the world

I know the spirit of this isle

Will thrive no matter what abounds.

Little island in this sea of vastly different people,

You’ve left this traveller so much to take back.

Sharing, respecting and working close together,

About enjoying others, whoever they may be.

I promise you, Bahrain,

That one day I’ll return 

Some fine and sunny, warm and happy day,

To friends, to sights, to sounds, some old, plus others new.

With many more fond memories to follow.

Inshallah

Jim came from the US to Saudi Arabia to teach Computer Aided Design to Saudi Architects and Engineers, took up residence in Bahrain, and enjoys the island lifestyle here more than enough to warrant the long daily commutes to Saudi. US Architect and teacher, Jim has Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Architecture from the prestigious Tulane University of New Orleans. His first career was as architectural designer, builder and developer. His second career has involved teaching architectural topics to grade school, high school, college and vocational students, and to architectural / engineering professionals. “Exposing the fertile minds of grade schoolers to good design was my most unexpected architectural and teaching delight.” Along the way Jim has received awards for both his own and his collaborative architectural projects, and for teaching. His favourite architectural project was as a member of the design team for the award winning New Orleans Rivergate Convention centre, a soaring concrete structure, ahead of its time and the world’s largest thin-shell roof at the time. While a resident of the old historic and entertainment district of New Orleans, the 'Vieux Carre’ - French Quarter, Jim also designed and renovated numerous antique buildings there. He notes similarities of the long established French Quarter preservationist community with Bahrain’s awakening to the importance of preservation here. For an international convention he created a three dimensional one-third scale model of a section of the French Quarter inside the Louisiana Superdome, including the huge famed St. Louis Cathedral, with Brennan’s and other famed restaurants and jazz bands serving their fares from the model buildings. His extravaganza was awarded First Place in US Convention Theme Design. IBM and Technology and Learning Magazine awarded Jim Teacher of the Year Award for Louisiana and for the Southern US for an innovative project: teaching inner-city high school students Computer Aided Design by leading them in the design of a football stadium for their school. A televised documentary, Teaching that Works, was made of his classroom activities in that project and in another: helping a student design and develop a robotic hand that could pick up a Smurf ball and throw it through a model basketball hoop. The student won the State Science Fair and went on to be awarded a scholarship and then graduate as a Robotics Engineer. His third career is writing and lecturing about architecture, art, travel and other - and painting.

Read Jim's article Architecture And Environs