desert winds dry out the sun-cracked dirt
dust rises from the southern dunes to fall
sand coats the tongue and works into the eyes
mirages fade away leave our throats parched

the heat combines with horrors that we face
of human kind explosions and the smoke
that comes from black gold bubbling underground
and floats into the hazy purple sky

someday we venture home to family life
our scars on skin heal faster than the mind
we're different than before we travelled east
to deserts filled with oil and dust and smoke