The Desert

In this desert, I see no life.
No creature scurries,
no sign of green creeps across this landscape.

Yet my Beloved has lured me out here and abandoned me.
And it’s not the first time, either.
Remind me, why should I not be upset about this?

My mind waxes philosophical
and insists that there are things to be learned in the desert.
But knowledge is the last thing I am thirsty for, here.

You know what I really want?
Distraction. Because the sameness of the sand and scrub
depress me and distress my spirit.

I want to be anywhere but here.
I want to feel my Beloved again.
I want, I want, I want, I want.

Oh. Okay. I guess there are things
to be learned in the desert.
I am breathing. It is enough.

Najat can really be an idiot.

Sit, Najat. Stare at the sand.
And let the emptiness suck the last drop of
triviality and self-obsessed foolishness from your soul.