Ocean eyes

As I looked out the 14th floor of the Ramses overlooking the mystic Nile River and a flood of dashing cars beeping and cutting each other off on the half paved narrow road, my mind wonders for just a moment across the ocean. Having just come back from a quick visit from Alexandria I vividly recollected the beautiful flats of the Mediterranean Sea with its cargo ships waiting their turns to enter the port and the little fishing vessels casting out their nets to bring us that savoring seafood that I was having for lunch. The sea coast is a sight which no matter how many times I might see never loses its touch of elegance. Similar in surrounding, the historical Alexandria, so much resembled Casablanca Morocco, Oran Algeria, Tripoli Libya and you might even say a far distant cousin of Carthage Tunisia. Not like its older brother where Pharos walked, Cairo on the other hand the ancient city although with no seas and oceans to boast of, had its wondrous Nile and pyramids that without doubt would flabbergast even the most cynical of critics. As an Egyptian friend told me the top of each of Pyramid is considered to be the center of the universe.

Bored a bit I went down to the lobby where I sat next to a sweet couple somewhere from South Carolina who had left their kids home, and came here for their silver 25th wedding anniversary. So many different eyes and the same sea and ocean. I, when I had the chance took a glimpse at the wonders of creation; they who were celebrating their corporate merger of 25 years saw a romantic view of a deep blue sea which was being gazed at by winking shimmering stars, and the locals who punched away day by day to make ends meet didn’t even notice it was there. Nevertheless there it was.

Sitting on the 18th floor of another hotel, let’s not make this a commercial, again that same sea kept gazing back at me, this time from its left eye. Again a fabulous view of ships drifting motionlessly and the little white dots all across the sea of those moving waves, the sea was there and obviously had nowhere to go. Still in a daze still standing with my eyes wide open across the sea in a trance, I wondered if this back to religion feeling I felt inside was also felt by the 80 dollar a month wage earners who were downstairs serving me my coffee and tea. In Tripoli where the Romans slept, I had tried to make the sea cross-eyed but to no avail. I looked and she looked back speaking a thousand words without one being uttered. Such a shame though we didn’t speak the same language!! If so I would be in heaven as she would tell me of all of those who had danced across its waters.

As I looked at the map of my old history books outside my plane window, saying to myself I promise God if you get me home safely I will stop smoking and never do anything bad again, I was heading to its much older brother who for some reason or other had some disputes and agreed to never meet with her. Although I had heard he was a little bit denser then she was, I never believed that she despised him because of the turbulent life that he had led. I do have to admit that when I sit at the famous Casablanca beaches of the Golden Eye and look out at this monstrous older brother of hers I am a little bit more intimidated. That look of serenity that she had shared with me was unique whereas Mr. A well knew of his clout and that look of seniority only made me feel like saying, “Yes sir, Right away sir!!” Those romantic ocean sunsets looked so much different from Nouakchott Mauritania. So in this dry desert sand there were no golden eyes to sit in those glamour coffee shops in this city full of servable moor Arabs and struggling natives. Wiping my shoes every 10 minutes from the sand as I walked to a local restaurant on the side of the main highway, I didn’t so much notice the big shot looking back at me because the ghetto houses that were scattered across side distracted his view. So unlike that Benelux view I remember here you were a bit distracted.

Ocean eyes looking back at us whoever we maybe. Some look back in romantic eyes, other in religious eyes, some just enjoy its wonder others don’t have the liberty nor the pleasure to even care if it’s there but no matter in the brighter picture of it all as we humans are in comparison to Antares the entire subject is miniscule.