Imagery

A bonfire cackles shooting fluorescent sparks into the parched and breezeless air. A blazing inferno recedes into the horizon, the burgundy giving way to tinges of fuchsia and magenta. The onslaught of dusk brings with it coolness and tranquillity, a balm for the battered souls scattered across the desert plain.

A group of women, adorned in vibrant shawls and metallic amulets, sit hunched close to the fire sharing the latest gossip. A stone’s throw away a handful of men in billowing thobes grill large chunks of meat. The aroma of grilled meat, dried herbs and spice wafts over the campsite entwining like a serpent with the sweet scent of shisha. Right on cue, a group of tawny children start prowling the perimeter, a cast of hungry hawks waiting to swoop down on their prey.

The camp is flanked by a sentinel of camels, who stand mesmerized by the arid expanse, oblivious to the human spectacle unfolding around them. Against the flickering lights of the lanterns they cast monolithic shadows enclosing the camp in an impenetrable fortress.

It’s only beyond the confines of the encampment can one truly experience the hidden beauty of the wasteland. The oscillating patterns of the sand dunes are chameleon-like ranging from mercury red to sparkling silver. The Milky Way glitters across the velvet sky barely at arm’s length. As the night deepens a chilly breeze sweeps across the canvas swirling up pockets of bejewelled particles, awakening its nocturnal inhabitants.