Kamella, Kamella

Poem by Shira, Artwork by William M. Smith

Kamella, Kamella,
The camel so fair
Had lovely long lashes
And beautiful hair.

Oh, all the male camels
Fell into a trance
Enthralled and absorbed
At the sight of her dance.

She danced through the desert,
Her hump it did sway,
And wiggle and shimmy--
Throughout the long day.

The music, it made her
So light on her feet,
You'd think she was floating
In time to the beat.

Her eyelids were lined
With the blackest of kohl,
And her hump undulated
With her belly roll.

Kamella was graceful,
And slinky, and sleek,
No wonder she captured
The heart of the sheikh!

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About This Poem

Which came first--the picture of Kamella or the poem? Read on, and be enlightened!

Shira's beloved husband, Bill Smith, indulged a request from her by drawing a cartoon of a belly dancing camel. Shira was delighted, and decided to put it somewhere here on this web site. So she scanned it, and as she was doing the touch-ups her friends Morocco and Mara Of The Nile urged her to add the headdress, lipstick, and earring. Now that the camel was ready to put online, she needed a name, and Morocco suggested "Kamella".

A few days later, out of the blue, Shira turned to Bill and started to recite, "Kamella, Kamella, the camel so fair..." Then she thought a moment and added, "Had lovely long lashes and beautiful hair." He then responded with, "She danced through the desert, her hump it did sway." Of course, Shira immediately had to grab pen and paper so she could write all of that down! A couple of days later, on April 28, 1998, Kamella came fully to life in the form of this final poem.

About The Poet and Artist

Shira, also known as Julie Anne Elliot, has been writing poetry ever since she was about 12 years old. Her poems have been published in several "small press" poetry journals. At age 21, she wrote her first French-language poem: Le Voile De La Nuit.

Every now and then, she feels the uncontrollable urge to write something that's utterly silly, and she has found that when that happens, the safest thing to do is go with it. Hence, this little specimen of doggerel.

Shira first started learning Middle Eastern dance in 1981. Dance has been her inspiration, her avenue to making friends in a new community after relocating, and her escape from her "day job" of being a professional Silicon Valley computer nerd.

Bill Smith, who would probably prefer not to be called Mr. Shira even though he is married to her, is a mathemagician. (Imagine someone who has a Ph.D. in mathematics with a sense of playfulness and humor about it....) He likes to pass time in restaurants waiting for his food by doodling. He used to doodle cartoons of snails to please his favorite wife (yes, there's a story behind that!), but recently she asked him to try a camel, and this is the result.

Unfortunately, Bill doesn't share his wife's passion for belly dancing, and sometimes feels like a belly dancing widower. He'd much rather cut a rug with her doing just plain old social dancing at a local club.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: The poetry and artwork on this page were done by Shira. Copyright 2001 by Julie Anne Elliot. All rights reserved. If you want to use it elsewhere, you must first get permission. To request such permission, contact Shira.

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