CAIRO: a poem

During my night in Cairo,

the pyramids were pointing,

as they always point,

towards their various points in space.

Larger, cosmic pyramids without a base

were formed invisibly by the passage of their abstract edges

into emptiness.

These pyramids met and crossed each other

on the way to infinite space,

forming still further pyramids,

which crossed and recrossed

infinitely.

There was no message in this fact,

this truth,

devoid of all significance or meaning.

The pyramids do not dream,

their purpose being not to dream,

but to inspire dreaming.

The Sphinx, however, dreams uninspired.

It's broken nose is proof of this.

The night I was in Cairo,

this sphinx was dreaming.

It dreamt of sand.

Can you believe it?

The sphinx

was dreaming

of sand!

It might as well
have simply stayed awake.

What a waste,

what a desert,

what a waste

of a night in Cairo.


by Jamie Reid