C'EST N'EST PAS CHER, MAN

by Alun Buffry

MIRHLEFT, MOROCCO, 1977

Mirhleft is a village grand,
Made of pink rock and yellow sand.

It's good to lay besides the sea,
Or sit and watch, just you and me,
The sunset or the street outside,
Where nothing changes with the tide.

I dream that we can ride a bike,
Or catch a bus, even hitch-hike,
Up the valleys, over mountains,
In search of rivers deep and magic fountains.

Then I return into this room,
Where all the morn and afternoon,
We can lay and smoke and play,
Yet in this place one has to pay.

"Five dirhams a gram,
"C'est n'est pas cher, man!"