Blue beret, blue beret
Where have you been ?
A tour in Cyprus
To stand in-between

A paradise island, out in the Med
Across the crystal sea
A U.N. posting offered
Was tailor made for me

A sun-soaked island, split in two
A ‘ Green line’s ’ the divide
The Cypriots made to live down south
Not north, where Turks reside

And in-between, a no-man’s land
Abandoned trucks and cars
Hotels they all stand empty
No people in the bars

It’s like a ‘ Wild west ‘ ghost town
Thick with sandy dust
The cars still in the showrooms
And not a sign of rust

For years no-one has touched them
Each marked upon our map
But none of us go near them
Beware of ‘ Booby traps ‘

The hotels we can’t enter
What treasures lie inside ?
I wonder who the guests were
That ran away to hide

It’s stood like this since ‘74
The Turks came down this far
But then The U.N. stopped them
With soldiers from afar

I shiver in this eerie place
I jump at every sound
But nothing ever happens here
A ‘ Dead zone ‘ on the ground

I came here full of laughter
But now just get depressed
Whilst driving through this lonely place
My energy suppressed

I’m glad my tour’s over
Tomorrow I go home
Tonight I’ll sit down on my bunk
And finish off this poem

Perhaps I will return one day
When peace comes to this land
To see it in its glory
When all live ‘ Hand in hand ‘