Desert Trails (Poem)

Desert Trails:

Shimmering illusory heat-waves flutter over blistering sands

Across the dunes, a mysterious figure in swaddled robes

Face covered in meticulously wrapped keffiyeh

Kam L. Ryder, intrepid trailblazer, once more faces off the odds

Across the full emptiness of a vastly populated wasteland

Through trackless beauty he rides his spitting mount

Blazing a lifeline across seemingly endless desert

One life sustaining watery oasis to the next

…

Halting humped beast at the top of a shifting hill

Swaying unconsciously in time with treacherously shifting surface

Life affirming swig of water eases parched throat

Washing down a layer of grit that coats teeth and mouth

A single drop of precious pure water hits the sand

Greedily sucked into the voracious maw of fiery annihilation

Sacrifice made and thanks given a merciful deity

Who provides for His people life sustaining bounty

Notching a solitary cactus, Kam marks the way

Transitory beacons of hope for those who follow behind

Keeping watch on each eroded rocky outcropping for

Magenta flags and hummocks of meticulously hoarded stone

…

Protected by razor sharp scimitars borne by fire hardened men

Eyes peeled for sign of bandits or natural predators

Caravans roll along unpaved roads never before trod by man

Plodding through a mercurial ever shifting stark landscape

Praying Samiel’s force does not obscure their pathway to succor

Pulled by leathery skinned bleating beasts of burden

Wagons heavily laden with treasures unknowable

Merchandise to trade with their fellow denizens

Of a land designed to hone the fittest to a peak of excellence

Foodstuffs to allow starved dwellers another season of sustenance

Beads and fine silks for women’s adornment

Spices worth their weight in precious gems

All dependent on Kam to point the way to safety

Across a harshly dry and uncaring barren land

…

Replacing his canteen in its sheath, Kam wipes away

Glistening drops of salted perspiration from sun-darkened skin

One bite of tough jerky, the animal it once was long forgotten

Shadowy outline of a circling hawk seeking scuttling prey

Momentarily darkens the roiling sand at his feet as it flits overhead

Lizard darts by the toes of his camel followed by a fleeing mouse

Alert to the presence of mortal danger dropping from on high

Death swoops down on wings of feathered fury to grab his prey

Squeal of terror abruptly silenced, borne away on hot desert wind

Its ghostly rider shaking ephemeral spear, savage predator wings away

Phantom presence of shadowy Valkyrie laughing in gleeful delight

Lust for violence and hunger assuaged for the nonce

Soon lost against blinding orb uncaringly dominating the austere scene

With a jaunty salute to kindred souled predator winging to private destination

Replenished tracker pats the rough hide of his sturdy steed

Sighing quietly, Kam L. Ryder hies down the slippery dune

Lord Kurgan needs this trail complete ere break of new dawn