FROM 'BASHO IN RIYADH'

Beneath such overweening space
And heat, any green's heroic,
Water a deep outsider

from afar cars dart
mercury: Angular flashes,
light redefining light

all yang and no yin -
women turned shadows, even
the lingerie vendors bearded

'Forbidden, forbidden,'
yabbers meddling man -
Nature quietly lets be

After the hail
a thousand-thousand
pocked vehicles

To celebrate the local culture
an old Bedu hawking sandals,
grim-faced men wiggling swords

Meanwhile the king rides past
in his gold bus fitted with tinted glass,
squad of bodyguards at the rear

Turned away at the Zoo's Gate
I'm informed, 'Women Only' -
Apes and ostriches are exempt
The python's beyond suspicion
Mr & Mrs Elephant touch trunks

Martin Wilmot Bennet

If you've any comments on his poems, Martin Wilmot Bennet would be pleased to hear from you.