CAIRO

Cairo is a long

long way a way

from Los Angeles

the hurly burly mass

of skinny men

on bikes and mopeds

the camels, the

horse and carts, 

the donkeys

dust 

and heat

is 400 BC, 1950's

Mercedes Benz,

the ancient pyramids

majestic

dust

thousands of

small children

dirty on street

corners

the smell of

manure

the bad teeth

the poverty

people on 200 dollars

a month

what does the world

expect

yet 

if it becomes

modern

we all pay

one way or another

the cost of petrol

rising to enormous 

levels

and that in turn

shakes our peace

as the tummy

of a belly dancer

moves