Still Near The Nile
by cricketjeff on June 14, 2011. © Jeff Green, All rights reserved
The very first thing an Egyptian must master
When learning to drive is the use of the horn
It means “where’s your brakes” and it means “please drive faster”
It demonstrates thanks and expresses your scorn
They drive on the right, or the left, or the middle
Whichever position is best at the time
How so many live is the Sphinx’s great riddle
They seem not to think that mass murder’s a crime
The roads are not smooth, they are covered in mountains
Not sleeping policemen but dozing cop cars
And next to the carnage there maybe some fountains
Or dense piles of rubbish heaped up to the stars
And round every corner the weight of the ages
With pyramid trinkets of too many kinds
There’s hoards of street traders who ply you for wages
But everyone’s happy so nobody minds
A soft revolution has changed where they’re going
A confident air in the gaps between smogs
I sense that they’re winning but rapidly sowing
An army of drivers who’ve gone to the dogs!
English