Cast up

We were soon swallowed by the airport maelstrom -

Led by our guide past yawning officials -

Cast up, at last, before our Gate - 

Cairo Airport 

February 

The last morning

The last morning -

Hearing the wind in the palm trees -

Walking barefoot by a silver sea -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2024

I walked there still

The gentle Syrian put down his scissors -

Happy he asked -

I looked at myself in the mirror -

I remembered Egypt -

The ancient sky -

The stars above the sand - 

I walked there still -

Yes I said -

Wareham

April 2025

There were wonders

There were wonders here -

The boy's beautiful golden mask -

The serene face of a god king -

A chariot light as air -

National Museum 

Cairo

February 2025

Dust on the rear window of a car

There had been shining villas -

The Military Academy -

Posters of the General lining the boulevards -

Here, there was a boy -

His apples -

Dust on the rear window of a car -

Cairo 

February 2025

A gulf of time

Walking past the camel drivers -

Their crouching beasts -

Hearing so many voices -

I stole away -

I stood before a gulf of time -

Reached out for what I knew I could never touch -

The Pyramids 

Cairo 

February 2025.

Being a milord

For one hour I was a milord -

There was dazzling linen, a girl with kohl rimmed eyes -

Waiters moved noiselessly - 

The Nile flowed beneath us -

Floating restaurant on the Nile

Cairo

February 2025