the Second Battle of El Alamein

was it in Orlando
or the depths of Bryce Canyon
where the Desert Fox escaped battle
with his fluffy German tail blown high by the
chasing dry winds
of an angry British bird-of-prey
who was in constant pursuit?
well, i can't recall
the title of the book
with yellowed pages
but it was filled with stories of an African war campaign
which erupted along the sleepy coastal towns of Libya,
with nearby Cairo blazingly hot,
where the great Egyptian Pharaoh,
buried deeply under sand,
was at rest, thinking of his loyal friend
Apollinaire, who was last seen
with a shrapnel wound to his head
driving to Naples
inside a battle-scarred Sherman tank,
his artistic manifesto
tossed poetically on the dashboard.
his tank was destroyed
at the Second Battle of El Alamein
but not before
his great contributions
to erotic novels

were found in the burning ruins,
only a few of which have been read
by his friends in Paris.