The Bedouin's Song

I'm just a bedouin: I live in a tent - Cozy an' fair Its fabric woven From rough goat-hair- A shady cover In the summer A rain-proof shelter In the winter My possessions: A single garment - a loose black robe I call a thobe A pair of worn out sandals A coffee kit And other little things I put in a sack That may not fit With countrysiders' appetites Or urbanites' My homeland: All this infinite expanse Of deep beige sands My sole companion: A faithful camel Who carries me And all my stuff Together we cross the endless desert And when I sing Some cameleer song He gets so light Out of delight And makes as if to fly Towards the sky