Grapevine and Date Palm at Dawn
OH CAIRO
Chapter 2
Waking up, I rise from my bed
And tiptoe to my window
I fill my eyes with the sight of green
In all degrees of saturation
From the palest, lightest, luminescent leaf
To fronds of silhouetted palm
Elegantly backlit by the dawn
Oh, Allah, Alhamdulillah
I have awakened into a dream
Unable to move, unable to breathe
Without first whispering to You my thanks
Without seeing Your Glory and singing Your Praise
Without recognizing Your Mercy and Grace
For delivering me into Egypt
The leaves of potatoes sparkle with dew
Planted in the orchard of peaches
Thickly like children playing at the feet
Of their mothers in straight lines for praying
Row after row of peach trees in flower
Their pink petals move like lips whispering in prayer
Their branches raised in salute and takbir
The fields of the farmers brightly cover the land
Like squares of a green-checkered blanket
Of wheat, romaine lettuce, and spicy gargir,
Cauliflower and cabbages and clover
Evergreen citrus trees generously laden
With oranges, nectarines and lemons,
And date palms swaying in stately columns
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