حداثيون في الصحراء

We talk of many things we don’t understand.
Modernity in the desert! The latest
joke in a world full of jokes.
But this is the desert,
where the dust hovers in the air like butterflies
in a graveyard.
Where sand blankets everything—
acacia and palms, the tents
of Bedouins, even camels,
the ships of the dunes.

So little can grow in the desert.

Our palaces scream cutting-edge.
Our A/Cs hiss like snakes.
Cell phones! Cyber cafés!

But remember, the desert is a fox
dressed like a woman.