Sitting Ship

Ako, the animal ride-share owner, prominently leans against his dromedary camel covered with an evergreen forest stitched saddle. They are dependent upon each other for survival on the edge of the Saharan Desert. Care and companionship fosters affection like domesticated single hump pets. There was no spitting just cantankerous belly roars. A headdress of white linen wraps around his head like long length clouds in the sky. The turquoise lined deep v-neck, olive green galabiya is the outer layer protecting his sun-drenched skin from further exposure. Earning a living at the base of the ancient pyramids of Giza, Egypt wear down his skin and bones. He holds a keffiyah cloth in his hand in front of a pile of succulent green grasses for his camel.

It’s a long way up to the top without a steady flow of travelers in search of one of the wonders of the world. It takes awhile to notice his bleary eyes and forehead wrinkles with his sporadic and scruffy white beard. Slow and low smoldering cigarette smoke have discolored his mustache. Instant gratification keeps empathy at an arm’s length distance. The intensity of the sun will soon wane into the western horizon. Sitting ships will be silhouetted in gasoline rainbows. Ambient temperatures will drop like icicles. Twigs and camel dung will be piled on the sandy desert surface for a campfire burning throughout the night. The brief time spent together was generous. Repeatedly in splintered Arabic English he said, “Good luck to you my friend.” Healing in the repetition of the phrase. Love took me across the hostile desert on soft and large leathery footpads in a wavy motion mimicking the untamable dunes of urban escape.