Going through the Suez Canal in the fifties was
fraught with danger, every porthole and door had to be locked or we were robbed.
The ship swarmed with carpet sellers, thieves
and people selling dubious alcohol and
pornography that even looked old-fashioned
and they were not shy touching up a young
sailor. And for us who had no education we
thought this was Egypt a country of robbers
and shameless perverts.
The Red Sea, Persian Gulf, another nightmare
on ships that had no air conditioning. We slept
on the deck to catch the cool morning breeze.
Our suffering made ship owners very rich.
