Telling the Truth

~~~Rest Stop between Cairo and Alexandria

 A young man
Our driver in Egypt
On the way from Cairo
To Alexandria

Intense, focused
Quick and determined
Articulate English speaker
Eager to talk

Goals for his life
Education a priority
Inquisitive
Picking our brains

We pass several
Small outposts
Simple houses surrounded by
Desert dry Egypt

No fancy minarets
Just towers with
Loud speakers broadcasting
Calls to prayer

Later a large prison
Gated walls and towers
A nearby minaret
Calls to prayer

Public and audible
Marks of religious faith
Impossible to
Overlook

 Because he hasn’t
Said it yet
I ask our driver
Are you a Christian?

He thrusts his arm out
Turns it over
There on his wrist
A small Coptic cross

From childhood
Until the day he dies
Wherever he goes
Marked as a Christian

Silently I wonder
What marks me as Christian?
Will I conceal it
When I’m asked?

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 20 April 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, January 2010 (Rest Stop) and
pinterest.com (Coptic Cross Tattoo)