“Something Like Egypt”, by Debbizo,
from the poem cycle “An Adelaide Boy”:

Something Like Egypt

A week or so after our arrival
I’m driving with my father
down Port Road to see the wharves
his large hands guiding the wheel
shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows
thinly rolled cigarette pasted to his lip.
It seems a hot day, though still winter
sun heating the cracked dashboard
red leather scent fusing this moment to memory
and row upon row of palm trees
planted on the wide median strip
convincing me we now belong
to an exotic and tropical country
something like Egypt.

This poem spoke to me when I read it. My thanks to Debbizo for being willing to post a recording of it for my use.

My setting seeks to capture in the melody the childhood reverie in the
verse.