Lies

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There's something about this expanse of sand
A desert I go through, white and bland
The wind, a sieve, blows off pretense
Its lessons of life are simple, intense

****

The clouds, the other day, gathered around
Threatened the sands with a rumbling sound
Though darkest grey for miles and miles
Though angry, expansive, in warring isles
Though people looked up with hopeful eyes
Though winds blew stark and chill, like ice
Their breath was cold, they seemed to say
We'll rain darker than your darkest day
Nothing you'd do could protect you enough
Nothing could be grander, nothing as tough
Full of amazement, awe and respect
But at the same time, quite circumspect
That promise of rain in a desert belies
The sands beneath, dry storms of vice
Like those around, who cause us pain
Conjure green lands, promise the rain
The desert that day, told me "You know"
"What lies beneath such grandeur and show"
"Is just what you see revealed to your eyes"
"Like these clouds that rumble and tell you lies"
And sure enough, when the rains did come
They were but a few drops, or almost none
"They may be clouds, they may be grey"
"But if what you see isn't what they say"
The desert went on then, old and wise
"Then what they say are just some lies"

****

It was dusk, in a tent, outside raged a squall
I was huddled within, away from it all
The desert spread miles around my camp
In this tent pitched on sand, I lit a lamp
A water carafe, a carpet for a bed
A cotton-filled banket, cushion under my head
Bedouin I was not, was with them just that day
The story a quaint one, but too long to say
The lamp, beaten bronze, spread a golden light
Mellow like honey, warm, shining bright
All troubles, all worries the lamp rendered grey
Drove back as shadows that faded away
A soft mellow warmth crept up on me
A quietness, a peace, life as it should be
I thought I would read by the lamp but then I
Sleepy that I was placed the lamp high
On a leather and wood stool next to my bed
Where it'd stay aglow while I peacefully slept
I marveled at the lamp, how its little bronze form
Could drive far away a darkening storm
The lamp, its bronze base lined with brass
With a burning wick on it like a playful lass
I wondered how life would be truly sublime
For the base that cradled this wick all the time
I was wistful, if I could only just own
This lamp, for always, its light that shone
Would brighten my nights for eternity
Give my days purpose and clarity
But though I admired its golden glow
Though the glow seemed to always bestow
The light of the sun, the dance of the lark
The desert said "here is a truth that is stark"
"Though the sturdy base holds this dancing light"
"It is dark and somber while the world is alight"
"And so in this world, there are people like this"
"whose closenes is darkness, and not glowing bliss"
"Merchants they may be, of dreams etched in gold"
"Offer to all, things bright and bold"
"But a lamp though alight, is never the sun"
"Its light amber honey, not for everyone"
"As long as you are distant, its light belies"
"the darkness beneath, the lamp's greatest lies"
"It may be a lamp, it may be of gold"
"But if what's beneath it isn't what you are told"
The desert went on then, old and wise
"Then what it spreads out are just some lies"

****

Searing winds blew the dunes askew
Arranged them in patterns, then arranged them anew
Endlessly shifted the landscape that day
So restless that there was never a way
No path through the desert, just a sea of sand
Burning harsh sun, a parched sandy land
Bedouin I was not, but I had to find
A path through these shifting sands of time
I was here today, just walking along
A story I won't tell, for it is too long
My mind in turmoil, sand in my hair
I walked to oases that just weren't there
It had dunes and dunes and dunes of sand
It was but a desert, just barren land
It was not my home, nor companion to me
It was never the place where I wanted to be
Yet it tried to entice me, tried to engage
preyed on my thirst, conjured to assuage
Of the greenest emeralds, a crystal lake, large
Of the bluest tuquoise, a sparkling mirage
It knew as I knew that its ice was just heat
No lakes, no oases, nor lush fields of wheat
So I wondered and pondered, wanted to know why
Every step of my way it told me a lie
I wondered why it sought to indulge and appease
I pondered the reasons for lies such as these
The sandy expanse of the desert was clam
It told me "I wish to do you no harm"
"I cover your trail, lost footsteps with sand"
"So you don't return to your pitiful land"
"I may be a desert, the bleakest of lands"
"But if I don't conjure a mirage on my sands"
The desert went on then, old and wise
"If I don't entice you with oases of lies"
"You may not walk ahead to freedom and life"

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22 Apr 2018, 11:37 PM, Qatar