Industrial Cleaning Products and Chemicals, Graffiti Removal - Chela, UK

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The Road to Fujairah

Plastic bags line the road to Fujairah,
mostly blue, some yellow or white.
Embellishing the tiny stunted trees
like bizarre Christmas decorations,
blown there by desert winds.

Dotted here and there on bare rock
cling clumps of spiny grass
like Crown of Thorns starfish on coral.
The empty landscape - sand and scrub
and brown rock – shimmers in the heat.

Even in the air conditioned car
I sweat in my long sleeved shirt –
worn to respect local sensibilities.
Outside the town the road is lined with stalls,
selling fruit, or rugs from Pakistan.

There are no women –
men are everywhere,
robed in white, their heads covered.
The one street is deserted –
everything pauses for prayer.

We eat in a beachside cafe,
food adapted to Western tastes.
The inevitable pop music
blaring from loudspeakers,
drowning the sounds of the sea.

Valerie Darville

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