The Song Of The Merchant Ali (Refrain Stanza) Poem by Gert Strydom

(after I. D. du Plessis)

The fortress of sultan Rameer in Shalimar gleams red as fire
and beautiful is the women that do Ali desire,
where Ali the merchant yearns for the Sultan's wife,
do watch her through binoculars on every day of his life
while her hair flutters like a flag where she climbs the steps to a spire
he notices the moats and guards and even her small smile
where he is away a little less than a mile.
One night he sneaks in defying the death penalty and the Sultan's ire
and beautiful is the women that do Ali desire.

[Reference:"Die Sjalimeer" (Shalimar)by I. D. du Plessis.]