We know how these things progress -
Highly charged words infused
With love's sudden inspiration;
Mirage of Hope
In a desert world of thirst and longing.
Perhaps it is the hope itself
Which causes the hallucination,
Mostly auditory but sometimes visual -
Nodding,
We know how these things progress.

And so we crawl forward,
Grasping at the house that stands,
Desperate for the water
Shimmering in the heat.
To remain is death,
And this we know,
Yet reach again.

I rather prefer death
Now
And so I will remain.

11/24/2006