Poetry

Those unfamiliar with Doha—or those recently arrived—are likely unaware of the significance of Doha's roundabouts to the local community. Roundabouts were key landmarks by which people navigated and used to refer to areas of the city. They had memorable names, such as Oryx, Slope, TV, Burger King, Crazy and Parachute, and featured notable art installations. They also had fearsome reputations due to the number of accidents, delays and difficulties drivers had in negotiating them. Many welcomed the decision in 2013 to phase them out in favour of lighted intersections, but some mourned their passing. In recognition of their cultural importance to the city, several of the replacement intersections include new art installations or sculptures that reference the former names. One of the most notable of these is the 5/6 Arch that was once the Arch/Rainbow roundabout.

The poem itself is written as a zajal/zejel. This is a traditional form of Spanish-Arab poetry that dates to at least the twelfth-century CE and remains popular in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. It was featured in Writer's Digest in March 2019. It is commonly performed using colloquial language and is often semi-improvised and accompanied by music. Although there is some variation in its form, I followed these rules:

• An opening couplet rhymed AA
• Subsequent stanzas are quatrains rhymed XXXA (i.e. BBBA, CCCA, DDDA...)
• Lines of 8 syllables