A bobbing, creaking dhow
Unloading tea-chests on the Creek at sunset
The day of our reunion; Odysseus'
Trade winds of fortune,
Iranian caviar.
Toast!
With eggs and onions, vodka -
Our sprawling lives
Now crafted, lyrical
Anthologies of travellers' tales.
Your balcony at dawn
A wall of heat -
The howling call to prayer,
Wide-armed songs from countless minarets
And sandstone suddenly ablaze.
Morning on the beach
And everything behind us
Burning
