A sphinx in the desert grabs my feet

.....What is small, soft and weak
.....but stronger than the hardest marble?

.....Do not count on what you have learned
.....do not count on what you think now
.....do not count on what you will know later

.....but surrender to the answer
.....or burn alive in the sun!

The standing heat and my resistance
against this exam dehydrate me

I lick the salt from my lips
fold my hands over my head
until they sting and get exhausted

my sweat evaporates
my skin is bursting
sand fills the slits

I dream of drops
that close me
one by one, slowly

making a way deep
into my fibres, and the sphinx nods
She releases me

.....Here's a roof
.....here's a well
.....take a rest and move on