The Sifting Sand Dunes
When life becomes a desert
When life sucked out
Each drop of my tears
The uninhibited sight
Finally, gauged the perched
Vultures, patiently awaiting
The desert in my eyes.
Sans any succour I first
Searched for paths among the
Mapless sand dunes of emotions
Wandering among the relentlessly
Sifting, blowing, sliding grains of dreams
And mirages in the scorching sun
Compelled me into deep silts of maturity.
Then, when the night descended
Heralding the trepid sea of tranquillity
I raised my eyes to the sky of faith
Beholding the fairy lights glittering
Defiantly, to pierce the darkness
The shrivelled soul felt the kiss
Of the quaint yet nourishing hope.
And then lo!
I grew into a cactus, adorned
With the thorns of every
Pain, betrayal, humiliation
Darted on my heart; Defying
the glares of judgements
Seeping the depths of my spirit
With the sticky sap of buoyancy.
Now I stand tall among the barrens
As the desert flora and the travellers
Pass by wary of my glinting armour
Of sturdy, sharp, vigilant thorns.
Vultures had to fly away disappointed
Unable to get the anticipated carrion.
While the sands keep winnowing around.
ME— the pegged resilient cactus, now
Among the dunes, await the deserters.
This poem is in response to November’s Poetry Prompt Contest on ‘The Desert’ initiated by Warren Brown. Thank you for the wonderful prompt and loved the poems written on the same by so many others. Do share your views on my words. Hope I am able to instil vigour into the deserts of your lives.
So much from Life is Amazing with Books and Writers.
Though it is not exactly on the same lines, yet you may like to read one of my posts about the importance of unsung people around our lives.
Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Lucy Gray Jan Sebastian Ravyne Hawke Marcus Quy Ma Elephant Journal ILLUMINATION Robert Ralph Gun Roswell Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Hamsalekha Joy Bennett Lubna Yusuf Ali Kurtulmus Surbhi Panwar simeon mogaks Samah Fadil Filza Chaudhry
