and thou, in waning smiles
carries the leavened heart oozing
noiseless lamentations
like a fakir atoning for riches unknown
buried in desert storms
rampant and fifty moments from an oasis

for in the golden rays of brightness
sirocco gust untendered skins
smothering and smutting
in glades you beg to harvest true
yet in vivid echoes
kissing barren soils in puerile wilderness

the songs of yester sing for jesters
and the shuffle dance in legless amour
is less than a day's trade
which you sell to resell for profitless gain
as you flounder in waves
the talk of the talk of all and here and there
in mind knowing it could have been
the best of times
for it was for just a little while