FREE VERSE

Writings on the sand

Part 1 — tributes to the desert

Burying my feet in the sand its grains shifted, settling in the ridges of my toes.

I breathe in the smoke, the last of everything, waiting until the clinkers in me are out.

When the fire is dowsed only the winter moon dithers to succour or maybe to just watch.

In the ballrooms of late and solemn around me, the winds pirouette and the dirt dances away.

I lay the twigs of my limbs onto the broken, barren ground planting hope, offering sweat and tears.

My footprints, the tributes, all these writings on the sand drip and drain, down and through.

All my prayers echo through the dunes as the earth soaks the last of me and I hunker down for the rain.

© Madhuvandhi Ravi 2023

As 2023 is almost over, I am contemplating everything that has changed around me this past year. When this year began, all I hoped for was some good health and a few nights of peaceful sleep, but it has given me much more than that. It has taught me to fish out small joys in my once mundane lifestyle. But most importantly, it has taught me how much patience and persistence eventually pay off.

Wishing everyone more hope and happiness in the new year!