The campaign had ended
And the Afrika Corps defeated.
From Alamein in Egypt,
Hugging the Mediterranean coast,
To Tobruk and Tripoli,
The blackened derelicts of war
Were rarely lost from sight.
I remember, now years later,
Not the endless ruin of battle,
But a temple by the sea.
We swam in the pellucid waters,
In a shimmering blaze of crystal light.
Long have I forgotten the things of war,
But not that temple by the sea,
Lonely and serene,
And the exultation of spirit
I felt in its shadow.

ERH

I was given a message to deliver,
To a sister living in Alexandria.
I found the street: Rue Agathon,
And when the door was opened,
I gave her the message from Cairo,
Also a package her sister had sent.
And as I turned and walked away,
Hurried by the affairs of life,
I heard her softly say:
"Is the world so short of time?"
I turned, she smiled, I was enrapt,
And that is how I found my wife.

ERH