Again, as ever,

in the desolate desert of mine,

dry and quiet since the last rain

that I falter to remember

under a lost sky

I start to rebuild.

 

So tall my arches and towers

rise to dizzying heights

where the sun can glisten off

every brick, so perfect

 

I take a step back

look up through my sweat

and I am blinded by the excruciating beauty

it’s majesty on the sand.

 

I didn’t remember last

when I was this happy

as the sun set

and the crimson rays lingered on my mortar

for one last fond caress.

 

I went to sleep in the night

smiling up at stars.

 

but as the inside of my eyes

lit up from the first warmth of the sun

I woke to heartbreak.

 

my towers, they lay toppled around me

my arches crushed and buried

looked up at me from the sand

all through a dreamy ripple of heat

as if this were a mirage all along

 

but the sand was the same.

empty, quiet, dry

the element of me,

the one unchanged.

 

so it was desert again as this story ended

and desolation

the last word, as ever.