SANDS OF THE DESERT

Opotiki News, 15 October 1940, Page 3

SANDS OF THE DESERT

N.Z. SOLDIER DESCRIBES EGYPT POEM TO “MOTHER DEAR” The following poem was received by a Te Aroha resident from Egypt, and has been handed to the Opotiki News for publication. It makes good reading:— 0 Mother, this Egypt’s a -.terrible land, ’Tis nothing but flies, fleas and acres

of sand The sun i s so hot, and the wind

when it blows, Piles the dust till it lies inches thick

on our clothes. But for all these hardships we’ve no

woriues or cares, And the newspapers call us fuilitairc

millionaires; So perhaps I should say we’re Jiv-

ing in style, Where the sands of the desert roll down to the Nile.

The East and the West, so the poet once said, Are as different in ways as the quick

and the dead; You wouldn’t believe ajl the tales 1

can tell, No, nor can you imagine a true

Eastern smell. We’ve all read the tales of Arabian Nights, And since we’ve been round, and

seen most of the sights, We just yearn for the day when we’ll sit back and smile, Dreaming dreams of days spent on the sands of the Nile.

We’ve seen Abdin Palace, where lives King Farouk, It’s just round the corner from Babel-Luk; ’Tis a beautiful building, with its emblems of green, The one place in Cairo that really looks clean. We’ve not seen the King yet, but when he appears, I think wo ■will give him three rousing good cheers; And he will reply, with a wave and a smile, For the boys who are guarding Ins glorious Nile.

But, Mother dear, if the truth must be known, We’re all very sick, and want to get home; And. when it’s all over, and we’re there once again, We’ll talk and we’ll talk till wo drive yon insane. Perhaps no great stories of great deeds we’ve done, Perhaps no great stories of great battles won; But we’ll tell you with pride, how, with cunning and guile. Wo guarded with safety the sands of the Nile.