Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the afternoon ride of 5 friends dear.
We chartered a minibus and headed for the border,
Hoping to see part of Bush’s New World Order.
On the way we saw camels and herders alike.
But it was the tiny McDonald’s that was such a sight.
Four men in a trailer with nuggets and fries
Stunning, yet comforting, to American eyes.
2K from the border between Iraq and Kuwait
We met with security and learned of our fate.
We traveled no further, our excursion was stopped.
Around went the minibus straight back to Kuwait – so we thought.
There were farms in the distance, all lush and all green.
Our driver thought it all should be seen.
So he went to the gate of a farmhouse nearby
The next thing we knew we were invited inside.
There were horses and gees
And a family of deer.
There were doves in domed houses
Then Arab sappeared.
They insisted we all join them for coffee and tea
And a lively diywaniya featuring our Jon and our Lee.
A diywaniya is a gathering place where men (not women) like to meet
For politics and bonding and always with treats.
The Arabs found out I was happily unwed
And one kindly Arab offered I be one of his wives instead.
I was touched and honoured and tried to be meek.
I replied my parents said I had to marry only a Greek.
The man with three wives was intriguing to Lee
Who was recently married to the lovely Julie.
Lee thought two more wives would brighten his day
His American Julie responded “no way.”
Arabs and Syrians, Americans and Greeks
We were Christians and Muslims and even a Geek.
Black people,young people, gay people, too
We asked, if wecan get along why can’t our governments, too?
There were young men and old men and a baby and TV
The conflict with Israel seems always to be.
The computers with internet were also at play.
We all talked like equals that cold winter’s day.
We broke many barriers as we sat on the floor
But at last it was time to head out the door.
We said goodbye to our hosts and headed straight for Kuwait
We thought we were going straight home – but wait!
A herd of camels appeared in the sand.
The camels were running and lead by a man
Who called us over and offered a ride.
We sadly declined – it was cold and windy outside.
We sat on the bus full of Jon’s cranberry bread
With thoughts of “how blessed we all are” running all through our heads.
At least it was time to say goodbye to the bus.
We hope we gave our new friends as much as they had given us.
