Sahara Poem by Rizwan Saleem

Only when on my knees
I saw how far I had fallen
The azure skies above me
Bereft of clouds of shelter
Had perhaps shown me enough mercy
The cracked and dry soil below
Have gained a few drops of rain
Shed by my withered eyes
Arid, desolate this land
Vast and open
Yet closed to supplications
Only my lonely cries
Come echoing back to me
Mumbling verses of faith
Through lips parched
My resolve fritters away in the furnace hot winds
Whilst I wallow in reminiscences of my halcyon days
Night falls with no promise of surcease
And I'm haunted by specters of worries to come
Toss and turn like violent seas, I can get no release
My ship sails endless over breaking waves
Falling at the seams
Ready to be broken on the rocks of the sorrows I conjure
With every dawn rises new pain
Of repeating what yesterday left behind
And hope floats like a mirage
To let me walk towards another oasis
For some elixir to wet my lungs
Each step on broken feet
I falter and I fail
Vultures follow me with malevolent glee
Waiting for that final fall
I stumble and I crawl
For temporary refuge
My beastly companions track my trail with blood lusted eyes
Point their poisonous beaks at me
Hands fall open
Unravel scrolls of dreams yet to be fulfilled
They laugh at my condition
Behold the fate of man; they say
Holding on to things that do not hold to him