There's an avenue from a Roman road
Trees anchored in lost oceans
A land that saw a desert war
Needs more than your devotions
The way he cupped his cigarette
His turned-up hoodlum collar
His eyes are sharp, they calculate
Exchange rates for the dollar

Chorus:
Vast nights, complacent empires
Holy tourists, the ghosts of olive trees
White dogs, a maze of caverns
come down and buy these tapestries

A waiter waits to pounce on you
With his friend, the organiser
The mosques are free but he charges you
And you are none the wiser
A traffic cop who needs a ride
Says he has a friend to meet
He complains the whole way going
And leaves you stranded in a one-way street

Chorus

Why can't they be just poor
I mean reassuringly poor
The harmless poor, the safely poor
Whose souls we steal in Nikon theft
The grateful poor, whose hands we shook
And quickly washed before we left
Oh let them just be poor

Chorus