A Lemon Basket Poem by Ahmed Abdel Muti Hijazi

A basket full of lemon
Under the jagged beams of the sun
A little boy is calling out with a voice of sorrow
For only one piaster, twenty lemons
Twenty lemons for only one
A basket full of lemon
Left, at dawn, the countryside
She was, till that cursed time
Green covered with dewdrops
Swimming in the waves of shadows
She was, while snoozing in the green bed
Looking like a bride the birds need
Oh! Who made her feel frightened?
Oh, which hand was starving indeed?
Picked her while it was dawning
Brought her in the morning
To stuffy streets
Crowded with nonstop feet
Cars driving with burning gasoline
How helpless!
No one can have a smell of you
While the sun is evaporating your dew
And the tan boy is keeping running so far
He can't catch up with any car
But he is still calling out under the sun
For only one piaster, twenty lemons
Twenty lemons for only one