Dawn at Freda Court

The Muezzin's Allah-u-Akbar
impales
the still Zamalek night.
The island peace is broken
as his cry echoes across the Nile,
through the mosques of the City
to the citadel of Al Azhar.
The distant whine of the Maadi metro
punctures the cool river air
as an early neighbour's teaspoon
rattles
and he expectorates.

The agate Nile turns lapis lazuli
and soon is turquoise
like Tut ankh-amun's crown.

As I look toward Luxor
from where it came,
like Cephren's and Cheops' monoliths of Giza,
The Hilton and T.V. tower
Pyramids of the Nile
loom out of mist
and sheets of sparrows flap under Abu El Ela bridge
on their way to Alexandria.

Distant horns now crescendo
as ten million Cairenes
prepare
to jostle through another day
in the Egyptian dun.