"Fire"

here, amid a desolate plain,
flat, dull, utterly featureless,
stretching out to infinity,
toward the end of the world
that lurks just beyond the horizon.

no sun,
yet an oppressive heat bakes,
draining life away like sweat.

the ground, a lifeless beige,
hard packed, refusing to yield,
giving no evidence of my passing.

the sky, a pale gray,
competes with the bleakness of the terrain,
cold, uncaring,
promising no respite from the heat.

no shadows fall,
just a blinding glare,
while the air boils;
in the shimmering heat,
the distant horizon fades to obscurity.

throat parched, thirsting without end;
lungs seared by the wind...
arid, soulless, constant,
relentlessly scouring the land,
whistling a discordant tune.

© 2005