Khan El-Khalil Market, Cairo
Our eyes meet...
Yours questioning,
Projecting intimations of beauty,
From behind the narrow slits of your burka.
Yours pleading,
Teenage melancholy and ennui,
A turbulent and restive visage.
Yours decidedly annoyed,
Balancing plastic neon pails on a wooden cart,
I am in your way.
Some gentle, some curious,
Some incensed by my audacity,
Clicking away at my cell phone.
Kaleidoscopic scarves,
Mortar and pestles,
Roasted corn on a stick,
Cumin and coriander,
Marjoram and wisteria,
Hedged in wicker baskets
Balanced evenly on donkey spines.
As I hand over coins for spices,
Touching the leathery palm of your hand,
The crisp and pungent scent of jasmine,
Stirring and confirming,
Our intimate, yet transcendent,