Seeing Egyptian Pyramids For The First Time…
(A first visit to Egypt in 2009…)
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| SO CLOSE TO MODERNITY... |
Cairo airport’s hubbub that night was confusing and distracting,
As a taxi in my name was sought.
There were two of course from which to choose
But soon a race to the hotel was under way, fast and loose,
As one’s body lurched and fought
To remain upright, whilst with the manic driver interacting…
The ring-road of honking horns, bigotry and rage
Consisted of three marked lanes
Between which five lanes of traffic slipped constantly,
Like sinewy serpents, slithering between rocks, sensuously.
Road markings were merely ignored white stains,
Or multiple conservative blotches of paint spillage…
Crossroads reminded me of military gymnastic displays,
In which participants gallop at right-angles in lines
To vault over boxes, just missing colliding
With colleagues. Here wild vehicles were somehow avoiding
Contact as they zig-zagged, yet drivers displayed no rude signs
But simply accelerated, snaked and honked through the haze…
Soon the driver pointed left as we rushed through the city sprawl
And I gulped, for behind the apartment blocks, the streetlights,
The neon stores and the general chaos of city life,
Yet stark from a gaudy light show beyond downtown strife,
Stood three ancient pyramids, totally incongruous sights.
And at the history and meaning I stared breathlessly in total thrall…
Pete Ray
29th January 2023
Being driven through Cairo at night to the Meridian Hotel from the airport.
It was all big city chaos, crazy driving and a lack of adherence to road rules, if indeed there were any.
VIEW FROM THE HOTEL'S DAMAGED SWIMMING POOL...
And the driver suddenly pointed left towards the pyramids, so unbelievably close by and I was suitably shocked at the closeness between the hassle of modern life and the Giza pyramids at the edge of the desert…
AT LAST...
Such a remarkable, if incongruous sight…
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