Immortal Friendship: Khadijah Bawazeer(Dr.) Poem by nadia abduljabbar

“To Khadijah Bawazeer”
(now Dr. Khadijah Bawazeer)

In the ebb and flaw
Of my tired, but roaring soul,
One humane soul,
Never says “let go”,
In my up and dawn,
There is one kind soul,
Who is one of a kind,
Never let me down.
……
A soul I chose to be,
Not a long time ago,
My sincere friend,
And she was so;
From the first moment,
I heard her frank talk,
I decided, by her side, to walk.
……
Her seriousness matches
With the serious phase of mine,
Her real loyalty,
Like a rare gem or stone,
In this barren time,
Is equal to mine,
The lack of such a loyalty
Makes my nostalgic heart moan.
……
Not thought I for a second,
That I’ll need her so many a time,
Yet the case was so,
And whenever turn I to cry
On her generous shoulders,
She soothes my fears
With calm; with unmatched patience,
And with her honest devotion.
……
In health and sickness,
In joy and sadness,
Her unchanged emotion,
Derives my misery away,
Whenever a pushy circumstance,
Say in my comprehensive exam,
That caused my strong self-esteem,
To be momentarily shillyshally,
She was there, and would never try,
Though many chances gave I,
To make me doubt my self-confidence,
Or put me down;
Instead she filled me with assurance.
……
She is always my ally,
And while writing my M.A paper,
She did not waver,
To sacrifice an hour,
Or many more
Of her precious time,
And risked the tranquility
Of her fragile body,
To help and share
My lot and care.
……
Her mere existence,
Soothes my lot,
And assures me a lot,
That cultivating sincere devotion,
Not in a sterile soil,
Is still worth a while.

Jeddah,1990

From my book Women with Wings