X - Gravedigger

We're near Ramses Square,
the statue, hidden inside a maze
of wood, and wire, and metal
and you're driving fast -
so I don't see beyond the first layer
of blocks, intricately laid
one atop the other,
modern day lego hiding
ancient history.

Under the bridge -
8 am sun doesn't reach these,
the dark corners of a city
that has forgotten the beauty
of remembrance
but I, Egyptian,
six years in the making,
have not learned this idle need
to close my eyes
and pretend that the past means nothing.

The windows are rolled up,
and your wake-up-on-the-right-side-of-the-bed music
filters out all the reasons why I woke up
on the wrong side of the bed,
and I'm telling myself that it can't be that bad
after all,
that maybe, just maybe,
I'll belong.

And then, you did it,
ruined the mirage, in this city of deserts,
with one song,
forgotten for over a decade,
and suddenly -
I'm 12,
in crush with Colm, Raul and Brian all at the same time
(not that any of them notice)
and Climie Fisher are Gods
for understanding that Love Changes Everything.

And for a moment,
I want, need,
to be that person
who can give nothing but a turning back
to a history that should not have been unearthed,
a tomb left untouched,
beneath a city, sprawling
that beats, lives, goes on
without the knowledge
of graves, and a past
that was lived,
once.