Lifted #1 (Ahmed Ali, pp. 158-159)

one day
        lay on his bed
it was
           twelve o’clock
he watched
                  flying and mixing
the good old days
                   the date palm
its leaves
              a thin branch
                                                       >

uglier and darker
with scaly rings
all around which
looked blunted and dull
                                                        >
She escaped and went into the gutter.
                                                         >
From the male the female
                         did not pull the trap
fit only to play the game of love
                                 the trap did not tempt them
he lay there thinking of
                         his only pastime, the hourly routine
‘Allah saved your life,’
                        'Yes, call him tomorrow.’