She lives on a plain
nothing breathes nothing sighs
and as far as she can see
there is no one

She squints at the horizon
willing the grey-and-red stripe closer
sunset a flat blaze
too much of nothing

She is thirsty and nothing quenches
her emptiness roams
a sea of sand or red dust and
no green no blue no rich brown soil

She dreams still
the endless days born to
sweet nights
turning on the stars like lights

She dreams this night
of a small seed a bean
dropping out of the sky
a miracle a star unexpected

She holds this bean
it tosses and turns
and pulls in her hand
a green frond curls out

She gasps as it drops
hot
and wiggles into the ground
roots digging in

She watches her bean
grow and grow and grow
but then the dawn breaks
and the white light wins

And her tears burn as they
fall on the hot sand

And her tears freeze as they
hit the frosted dust

And her tears don’t stop and

they salt the earth