Return to Cairo

I saw the signs of your islamisation without concession

But I could not cry

I saw your Pyramids, your noseless sphynx staring down at me

But I would not cry

I saw your young veiled and flirtatious women

But I  held back my cry

I saw Groppi , à l’Americaine, and Metro cinema

But still I did not cry

I saw you noisy incredible traffic and survived

But I was unable to cry

I saw my street, my 5t floor shuttered balcony

But still I refused  cry

I saw our bawab told him I had lived there

But did not want to cry

I saw my Synagogue empty of us but well guarded

And then I could only cry

Sultana latifa