Al Jazeera (poem)

Al Jazeera

i

these streaming images from Egypt
at night, burnt orange
in Cairo and Alexandria
crowds refusing to go
anywhere but forward
to freedom
waiting, waiting

thrill and frighten me


ii

as the old song says
something's gotta give
and so here, burnt orange
becomes white like day
or red like blood

waiting, waiting
something's gotta give


iii

how easy my life is

a professor's routine
a writer's routine
revolution on paper
(if at all)

street protests
a fuzzy memory
of the 60s
even the sting of tear gas
forgotten


iv

but how i feel for
Egyptians in the streets
a cacophony of dreams
waiting, waiting

will dreams turn white?
will dreams turn red?

waiting for the change in
these burnt orange images
streaming from Egypt

--Charles Deemer