Widely circulated within post-colonial circles this bit of choice orientalist pomposity:
the Anglo-Ottoman
charge d'affaires
a wealth of secondary smoke
lies well within his horoscope
Was it only yesterday?
That confounded code!
in parade-ground plaid
the embers and the burble
of a morning hookah
he took and has been had
Won’t you stay for luncheon?
stray from script at billiards?
blather to the raja
in ruinous prose?
[ad-lib ruinous prose]
misremembered polo clubs,
thrashed ponies and their squires;
a mismatch in the Levant;
a royal bash, a royal hash of empires
Was it only yesterday?
That confounded code!
I merely wish to humbly inquire, Sire
amidst the devestating wreckage
of your crumbling empire:
Was it only yesterday?
That confounded code!
Joel Banner Baird: lyrics, acoustic bass and guitar
jhaffur khan azad darakth: duduks, clarinet, voice and drums
