Ep. 19, Joyride to Egypt: Did I Sleep?

July Dawned Softly in the Eastern Sky

Click Here for the previous episode Or Click Here to start at the beginning of the story
 
“Out, Out, Out, Out, OUT!!!!” I screamed at that damn monkey in my hot tub. In the darkness of my little patio I watched his eyes grow wide with surprise, and I wondered suddenly if any of my neighbors had heard me yelling. A quiet, gated condominium community nestled in a tiny scrap of forested wetlands fortunately preserved by eco-visionary legislature, my neighbors and I were grateful beneficiaries of the 1990’s federal wetland protection acts.

Monkeys are probably covered in one of those eco-protection laws governing what goes on in my neighborhood. But this monkey was clearly in the cross-hairs of Scheri’s smoking wand of rose-scented incense, glowing softly from its stand in the flower planter beside the hot tub.

Aisha’s Egypt: The Potter’s Wheel

The Potter’s Wheel
 
Spinning like the Potter’s wheel
Ancient days and ancient ways
Traverse this earth in cycles
 
Spinning into foggy dawn
Recycling into sunset
In boring revolution
 
Time without evolution
Spinning like the Potter’s wheel
Until the potter is gone
 
Swallowed by oblivion
Ancient days and ancient ways
Unnoticed until missing
 
Like faithful dedication
Enduring pain with patience
Or aging gracefully
 
Spinning like the Potter’s wheel
Finally the ancient ways
Spin into eternity
 
 
© 2015 Aisha Abdelhamid
Dedicated to the Potter’s wife, whose husband is now passed away –
May God have mercy on him, his family, and us all.

 
 
A few more photos of the Potter’s workshop, kiln, and pottery for sale:

 
 

 
 

 
 
;^)

Aisha’s Egypt: Where Old Ways Stay the Same

Where Old Ways Stay The Same
 
Where old ways stay the same
There’s usually a good reason
Ways don’t tend to disappear
When shown appreciation
 
Love, good manners, and kind regard
Tend to wither with neglect
Seasons change and pass with time
Transitioning unchecked
 
Until no longer remembered
Until unneeded anymore
Until with unfamiliar face
Love slowly closes the door
 
 
© 2015 Aisha Abdelhamid
;^)

Aisha’s Egypt: Duck Market Day

Duck Market Day
 
Carrying her duck perched high on her head
She’s walking her duck to the market
 
He pokes out his head to get a good look
Observing his fate, sitting patiently
 
He calmly enjoys the view from on high
While the ducks back home view his privileged life
 
As the lucky duck who gets to travel
Escaping the farm with the farmer’s wife
 
How smugly he smiles and proudly displays
His best behavior while riding her head
 
Ignorance is bliss even for a duck
Travelling the world in an orange basket
 
Carried on the head of a farmer’s wife
As she walks her duck to the market
 
This moment of fun will soon be over
Life changes like that, and soon life’s over
 
Someone will eat him for dinner tonight
He won’t return home with the farmer’s wife
 
Even lucky ducks living privileged lives
Travelling the world while riding high
 
May escape the farm with the farmer’s wife
But won’t escape fate when it’s dinnertime
 
 
© 2015 by Aisha Abdelhamid
 
;^)

 
 

Ep. 18, Joyride to Egypt: The Transient Life of a Leaf

The Transient Life of a Leaf, by Aisha Abdelhamid

Click Here for the previous episode Or Click Here to start at the beginning of the story

The coast was clear as my children and I entered the condo at the end of the day. I peeked left and right, but there was no sign of that damn genie anywhere in sight. Then I slapped my forehead and laughed out loud, tickled by the memory of Scheherezade transforming him into a monkey.

My daughter asked, “What’s so funny, Momma?”

On the one hand, my ten year old daughter was the most incredibly truthful child I have ever encountered in my life, and was definitely not ready for my current version of reality. On the other hand, my seven year old son was an incredibly “creative conversationalist.” His imaginative reports from the classroom, playground, and neighborhood friend’s house were always laced with magic mushroom sauce, driving his sister crazy as she argued with him about the truth.

Aisha’s Egypt: French Fry Farmers

Can you carry your plate of french fries
On your head to your dinner table?
A plate full of tasty french fries
Is a “fast” food in some places,
But it’s not so speedy, here in Egypt,
Where guiding a horse and tilling the field
Is the way potatoes make it to the plate.
 

Can you see yourself clearing the field,
Collecting them one by one,
From the soil into your bucket?
Just imagine your daily life
Working as a french fry farmer –
No one pulls the bag from the freezer
Without someone harvesting potatoes.
 

;^)

Aisha’s Office: I Love Shopping in Egypt!

I just love shopping in Egypt!

There is a blessing for my shopping-challenged heart here in Egypt that erases all the heart attack symptoms that arise whenever I find I need to go out shopping for something. I just sit down and shop for it online. It’s awesome. My blender just broke and I never broke a sweat. I just let somebody else figure out where the best priced blender is hiding in the midst of the busy market-place. I just type in souq.com!

Then some nice person drives all the way from Cairo to my front door, just to see me smile when they deliver it like a birthday present! And they wait patiently for the payment, right there at my door, too – no problem!