Through the Desert

where does the light fall
from the colossal bleeding eye of dawn
where is the immensity of everything
as it dissolves into deep blue
as i lose my hand in the dunes of golden sand

here the night is full of donkeys screaming sex at the stars
full of your absence
and the smiling voices of children

there is only the sun now
so hot this desert so blue the skies my love
the houses are mud ovens baked with straw
the walls are hot like winter fires

i have been touched by respectful fingers
who know the heat and the mischief
which burns on the heads of liars

come to my house and drink tea the man said
my house is your house he said as he axed the emerald palm branches
come taste these dates they are good for the heat

what this berber man gave me
was part of the nothing he had
just carpets on the floor where he slept with his ten children
his house full of pride
full of the desert
full of the oasis

i have four dates in my pocket
i have already eaten four others
should i eat them
what can be kept of a moment
of dawn as it pours into midday
i have closed my eyes again and again
to empty the living gut of my pain

how can one keep what cannot last
is love the only fruit
which defies these laws of time