After so long a journey The traveler needed rest So he picked one of two trees - That was in his eye the best.
Getting off his “Clio”* He stepped on a flower Whose color had braved alone The asphalt of the highway.
From his car he moved away And faced a trench gaping gray Which he was unable to cross To where the water-spring was.
He yelled into the ditch Trying to get an answer Only his echo returned For want of a transfer
Then a scarlet sand rose, pulled by the small man’s toes, Jumped right under his nose Into the chasm with no bottom.
Back to the tree he returned But the whole site was now ferned - Rhizomes wherever he turned: Underground, too, were now the badlands.
(c) Lazhar Bouazzi, April, 2016
* "Clio" is a French car made by the firm "Renault." My son's got one. "Besides, "Clio" happens to be the muse of history in Greek mythology; some mythological accounts assign to her the role of the muse of lyre playing too. She is a daughter of Zeus - like all the muses.