Desert of Dreams

bright light and open eyes.
dry dark sand
on the horizon of forever.
no sea swell, salt water, wind and wave.
no seaweed, no seashell, no seagull.
no sea.
no sea, just sand.

the dry hot sand blurs
into a burning haze
of sun and sky
and despair.

the dream unfolds
into the nightmare of truth,
of the now,
of this endless desert,
this empty waste of heat and dust,
this reality.

footsteps pace
the walking walk,
the desperation drudge
and thirst,
hunger and thirst and blistered skin.
 
the footsteps drag and sway,
through dune and desert,
through rocky wastes,
through dry brush, dry bones, dry death.

and all that gleams beyond the sunlight
is the hope to dream again,
and escape.