Egypt
The parched, dry earth cracks
Beneath a merciless sweltering sky
Rain comes but once every four years
To slake the land's thirst.
The Nile oozes by sluggishly
The water's glimmer lost to murky brown
The plastic bags and bottles
Choke the river.
Skyscrapers pierce the horizon
City buses bustle by
Modernization has rushed to change
The land of timeless age.
Pyramids rise from the earth
Temples still echo with the priest's footfall
But every year the echoes grow fainter
With the intrusion of the modern.