FRAGMENT I

I walk this desolate desert plain
Where angels fear to tread
The only moisture here is
The tears so many have shed.

This is the depth of despair, where
God forbade man to be
When faith runs out we find ourselves here
The price of being free.

She banished me away to this place
I as her questing knight
As I did her bidding she left me
Once I was out of sight.

Scorpion scurries across the sand
Feel her poison within
To love her too much, completely
That was my only sin.

Sifting through this barren waste
The front line of this war
‘Tween mortal plan and Divine one, but
What are we fighting for?

FRAGMENT II

Stumble across the spiral clock of time
Shrouded by cloak of mist
Its face is covered with dents, where
Man has beaten with fist.

He stands tall, leering, indifferent
Hands slowly sliding on
No way to haul them backward now
The winding handle gone.

Turn away for an instant, it disappears
Time’s infernal machine
A lake opens up where it once stood
Lush tress where it had been.

“The lake of dreams” a voice speaks unto me
“Where all you want is true”
Spin round to see not just one girl
But twins, yes there were two!

They point right to the water’s edge
I feel compelled to look
Reflection swirling, begins to clear
I realise I mistook.

‘Twas not water, but a mirror-lake
I see the world before
Of love and hate, of heaven and hell
Life and death, Peace and war.

The waters part, I see my past
All that has brought me here
Enemies and those I have loved
Lost all who once were dear.

FRAGMENT III

The mirror cracks, a shriek rings out
All, future, present, past
Merge together, cannot tell apart
Fractured moments fly fast.

Look away, too much to bear, the
Horror my life became
The future I see now before me
Won’t hold more of the same.

Shards of glass slice deep into skin
But shards of happiness
Pain is the price of fortune’s smile
The truth I must confess.

Blood wells up, forming a pool round me
And I sink slowly in
Breathe it in, red vision somehow peaceful
Feel maybe I can win.

FRAGMENT IV

Sight empties, I am floating now
Drift along with the tide
Stare up at the stars; horoscopes shifting
And destinies collide.

I know power as future reshuffles
The past now matters not
I can forgive and I can forget
Desert plains not so hot.

A City of Gold like a mirage
Appears in front of me
Horizon grows nearer, a clear sign
I know at last I’m free.

Gathering rainclouds, the coming rains
Inform me I have won
Content tonight, for tomorrow I know
This desert will be gone.

© 2002 Priyan “Phoenix” Meewella

This twenty verse monstrosity is a fairly clear allegorical piece about falling into and then emerging from despair. It is structured in the form of fragments of a remembered dream, after a friend asked about whether or not I remembered my dreams. Many of the ideas herein, such as angels and fortune, have been or will be found in greater detail in other poems.
The closing required a very different frame of mind to write, and as a result was written about five days after the body of the poem.