Arash Behzadi - Deserted

Deserted - Empires And Cities May Fall But Art Endures "look On My Works, Ye Mighty, And Despair! Nothing Beside Remains. Round The Decay. Of That Colossal Wreck, Boundless And Bare. The Lone And Level Sands Stretch Far Away.” The Desert Ghost Town Of Al Madam An Hour’s Drive From Dubai In The United Arab Emirates Brings To Mind The Words Of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Poem Ozymandias. Shelley Was One Of The Epic Poets Of The19th Century. His Poems Rank Among The Greatest In The English Language. In Ozymandias He Describes The Ruins Of A Crumbling Statue Of The Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses Ii, Half Buried In The Egyptian Desert As A Symbol Of The Transience Of Political Power Contrasted To The Permanence Of Art As A Way To Preserve The Past. Even Great Rulers Along With Their Kingdoms Eventually Fall To The Sands Of Time. Ozymandias Boastfully Called Himself The “king Of Kings” Whose Mighty Achievements Invoked “awe And Despair” But Now Whose “colossal Wreck” Of A Sculpture Mirrors The Collapse Of His Power And Legacy, The People He Ruled Over And Kingdom Lost To The “lone And Level Sands”. Time And The Relentless Desert Sands Not Only Destroyed The Sculpture But The Entire Empire The Statue Was Built To Overlook. The Poem Reminds Us That History Is Full Of Rises And Falls Of Empire. The Deserted Village Of Al Madam Is But A Tiny Microcosm - A Reminder Of How Powerless Time And Decay Make Us All. However Amid The Ruined Pieces Of The Statue In The Poem There Is One …