Standing alone
As cold as the tons of steel
That carry me
This floating granary
A United Nations gift of guilt
For gaping mouths
On the bottom shelf
Of a bare-shelved continent
Gliding through still waters
The sweetness of the Bitter Lakes
As black as this Egyptian night
Tranquillity between two seas
Look out for danger, I'm told
Wishing for eyes more beady
Not your usual teenage symptom
Of body image insecurity
But I am safe
With my trusty walkie-talkie
And binoculars
The sixth best pair on the ship
Far behind my lonesome post
Polo necks with mugs of cocoa
Waiting for that alarm call
What if I don't call?
Only chattering teeth disturb the silence
And bow waves lapping on the shores
I sing The Rising of the Moon
But it doesn't
Yearning for that danger
Just a little to keep me awake
Perhaps an Arabian pirate ship
With a flask of tea
Imagine Haydar Ghazi
All flashing eyes and teeth
His bloody scimitar scythes
A great scarlet gash in the eastern sky
Reveals a mosque and sacred dome
Sudden silhouettes
Something to see at last
Good morning Sinai
From a minaret a muezzin’s call
A haunting song broadcast
On a mystical wavelength
Invites me to another world
Words I'll never understand
But a beckoning reminder
Of Angelus bells in my childhood
Enchantment chills me more
Daylight comes, brings horror
Manifestations of a recent war
Expose themselves on Suez banks
Rusty tanks and fighter jets
Dredged to clear the morbid depths
Fill gaps between village embers
People died here, families wept
Fleeing torrents of fear and hate
Saltwater wells in teenage eyes
Things they'd only ever seen
In cosy television lounges
Reality hitting hard and fast
In the time it took the sun to rise
On darkness that would always stay
I crave to go back to the dawn
It was beautiful then
